Dreams That Became Reality
by Darth-Taisha
Summary: Hinata's dreams lead her to the scene of Sasuke and Itachi's fight before the Akatsuki could reach them and gives a certain Uchiha a chance to change his destiny. Set during the Itachi Pursuit Arc (manga chapter 394). Itachi/Hinata, Neji/Tenten, Sasuke/OC, contains minor Sakura bashing. **Complete**
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters. I am just borrowing them for a while.

**Author's Note:** I finally finished this story today and in recent days I have made a lot of changes and cleaned it all up. For those of you who have read it before I hope you think I have improved it. Also, I left out the part about Tobi stopping the team from Konoha, I wasn't able to figure out a way for them to get around him and his whack-a-mole jutsu:)

* * *

Waking up in the middle of the night, Hinata's heart was racing. She had been dreaming the same dream every night for the past few months. In the dream she could see Sasuke Uchiha and another person in Akatsuki robes that looked a lot like him. After doing some research, she found out the other person was Itachi Uchiha, his older brother. They were fighting on top of a hilltop, but it wasn't any ordinary top of a hill or mountain, it almost looked like it was some sort of fortress built into the hills. Their fight also was not a friendly one; it looked to be to very brutal and to the death.

She could never hear what they were saying to each other, she just felt this sense of urgency that there was something she needed to do. As the days went by, the sense of urgency became increasingly stronger. After all these months of having the same dream over and over, Hinata felt she was still no closer to understanding why she kept having it. She sighed in frustration before praying silently to herself, _Kami, please show me how to help them_.

A few weeks later Hinata was on a mission with a very large team to find Itachi Uchiha or Sasuke or both. She knew the dreams were related to this mission, they just had to be. She was teamed up with Yamato and Naruto and they also had one of Kakashi's big ninja hounds with them.

While she was out on the mission, Hinata had been constantly scanning the landscape as far as she could with her Byakugan. She was trying to find the hilltop fortress where she knew the fight would take place. She still hadn't found it yet, but she could tell by the terrain around her that she was close. Naruto and Yamato never knew what she was doing, they just thought she was scanning the area for reconnaissance reasons.

Later in the evening Hinata decided to talk to Naruto and tell him about her dreams. If she was going to do something to assist Sasuke and his brother, she would probably need some help. They were getting ready for bed when she built up her courage and asked him if she could talk to him about something.

Naruto smiled at her. "Sure Hinata," he said in a friendly voice to her.

Hinata started walking away from the camp and motioned for him to follow her. Naruto looked puzzled, but followed her anyway. Hinata nervously swallowed before telling him about her reoccurring dream. She had her crossed her fingers behind her back as she told him and hoped he didn't think she was a lunatic.

Naruto looked surprised, but he actually believed her. "Hinata have you seen the hilltop yet?"

She shook her head no. "I um, haven't yet, Naruto-kun. I have been searching for it almost the whole time we have been out here."

Naruto gave her a cocky grin. "Well, don't worry about it Hinata, I will help you."

Hinata gave him a shy smile. "Thanks Naruto-kun," she said gratefully before activating her Byakugan and continuing her search.

The next afternoon they were getting ready to join the other search teams when she looked again in the distance and she thought she found the hill. She forced her Byakugan to scan to its limits before she finally recognized it.

She pulled Naruto aside. "Naruto-kun, I found it the hill. I just know Sasuke-kun is over there."

He looked at her. "Are you sure Hinata?"

She looked back him with resolute eyes. "Yes, I am sure." She had seen that hilltop hundreds of times in her dreams, and had no doubt it was the one she had been searching for.

He smiled before putting his fist in the air and yelled, "Well alright. Let's go tell Yamato."

They hurried over to Yamato, who believed them and he decided to come with them. He sent the ninja hound to meet with the others and tell them their location. Naruto and Yamato followed Hinata as she rapidly ran toward the east. As they got closer to the hill, she was able to see their chakra underground.

She turned back to her companions. "I found them, they are underground."

Yamato looked back at her impressed. "Great job Hinata."

A little blush stained her cheeks at his praise.

"Yeah Hinata, you are awesome," Naruto yelled over at her pumping his fist in the air. Her face became even redder.

She led them to a hill that was adjacent to the hilltop fortress and they stopped. As she looked at the top of it, she marveled at how it was exactly like the one she saw in the dream. She had found it! Using her Byakugan she looked through the thick walls of the fortress and saw the brothers were involved in a vicious fight. She could only see their chakra, but could tell they weren't holding back in their fight at all. Yamato and Naruto couldn't see anything, but they trusted Hinata when she said she could.

A movement caught her eye and she saw there was also a third person down there hiding a wall and was watching the fight. _I wonder if it is an Akatsuki member. _

Suddenly they were all shocked when Sasuke and his brother exploded through the ground and were on top of the hilltop. Naruto and Yamato's eyes went big as they watched the fight. Hinata looked up at the sky and saw a dark chakra mixed in with the thunderclouds.

"Um, Naruto-kun look up above us," she told him nervously as she nudged his arm slightly.

Naruto and Yamato looked above them and Yamato quickly used his jutsu put a wooden shelter above them.

They all watched in shock as lightning rained out of the sky and incinerated the hilltop where Itachi had been standing.

"Damn, that Sasuke sure is powerful," Naruto said in awed tones.

Yamato and Hinata shook their heads in wide-eyed agreement. They were even more amazed when Itachi let loose his Amaterasu and watched as the black flames were everywhere, burning everything within its deadly path.

The fight went on for some time and at the end they saw Itachi poke Sasuke in the forehead before he collapsed to the ground. Hinata gasped because it was just like her dream. She knew she had to get over there quick.

Her eyes were anxious as she looked at her companions. "We have to get to them before Akatsuki does."

Agreeing with her assessment of the situation, Yamato quickly made a wooden bridge over to the other side. They were running over it towards the brothers when they saw Sasuke collapse too. In a panic, Naruto began to run even faster. Hinata used her Byakugan and saw this creepy looking plant guy in the wall.

"Yamato there is someone in the wall, we have to make sure he doesn't get to them first," she said to him urgently.

He nodded and quickly did some hand-signs and a huge wooden plank extended from his fist and crushed the wall. Zetsu looked slightly stunned as he laid in the rubble.

Naruto quickly summoned his frogs, Gamakichi and Gamatatsu who quickly wrapped their long tongues around Sasuke and Itachi before they swallowed them whole.

"Now, hurry and take them to Granny Tsunade to be healed," Naruto told them anxiously.

"Sure thing Naruto," Gamakichi said cheekily. Gamatatsu waved bye bye as they poofed away.

"Good job Naruto, let's go find the others," Yamato told him in a relieved voice.

They were about to leave the area when the others found them. Kakashi looked at all of them proudly.

"Good work Naruto."

Naruto gestured toward Hinata with his hand and gave her most of the credit. "She was the one who found them."

Everyone looked at Hinata with surprise on their faces. Hinata began to blush and look at the ground uncomfortably. She wasn't used to being the center of attention.

Sakura didn't like Hinata getting all the attention so she said loudly, "Come on everyone, we need to get back and go see Sasuke."

They all looked at her and started heading back to the Village.

In the distance Tobi looked on and saw the leaf ninjas leaving the area. _So Itachi, it looks like you were able to protect your brother after all. Not for long,_ he thought menacingly.

**Author's note: **I started writing this in 2009 so there may be some inconsistencies in the plot line or details. Thanks for reading and please let me know if you like it or not. Thanks.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

* * *

Tsunade looked at the elder Uchiha brother on the operating room table with a worried expression on her face. _How in the world am I going to save someone who is in such bad shape?_ The young man before her was dangerously low on chakra, not to mention he was in an advance stage of an autoimmune disease. He had a collapsed lung and multiple burns, abrasions, lacerations and was suffering from severe blood loss.

"Shizune!" She barked at her assistant. "Get over here!"

Shizune hurried over. "Yes, Tsunade?"

"Start a couple of IV's. He needs fluids and according to his medical records his blood type is AB. He needs a blood transfusion immediately." Tsunade called another medic over to assist her. "I need you to start transferring chakra to his system STAT."

The medical genius ran to her special medicine cabinet where she kept some of her most valuable medicinal treatments and pulled out a red vial. It was her secret cure for seemingly incurable diseases and probably was more precious than gold. She walked over and poured some of the liquid in his mouth.

"You have too much valuable information in you to let you die, Uchiha Itachi," she said to his unconscious form as she watched him automatically swallow the medicine and got to work repairing his collapsed lung.

It took several hours before they were able to get his condition to a level where he was stable.

Tsunade looked over at Shizune. "It looks like he is going to live, but did you notice his eyes?"

Shizune shook her head sadly. "It looks like he is blind, my lady."

Tsunade agreed with her, but she frowned in concentration at the same time. "Do you remember my theory about people with doujutsus, especially the Sharingan...I think it is time, I tested it out. I need a Hyuuga immediately. I think Hinata would be perfect, she is able to control her chakra almost to a microscopic level."

She looked behind her and motioned to the ANBU member on duty. "Go get me Hinata Hyuuga immediately and bring her to me," she ordered before walking over to assist Sakura.

Sakura was working on Sasuke and had taken complete control of his care from the moment they had arrived back in Konoha.

Sakura's lips thinned into a straight line as she watched the medic work on her former team-mate. "You're doing it wrong! Just go...I will take care of it myself," Sakura said irritably as she grabbed the bandages away from her co-worker. The medic rolled her eyes and walked away.

"Sakura, why don't you take a break? I want to look over Sasuke myself," the Hokage told her firmly. At first Sakura was hesitant because she didn't want to leave Sasuke even for a minute, but she knew she couldn't disobey her boss.

"Yes my lady, I will come back in a half an hour," she said with a sigh as she looked longingly at Sasuke and then left the room.

* * *

Hinata was at home enjoying a nice hot bath before getting ready for bed, when one of the branch family members told her there was an ANBU member waiting for her in the foyer. Hinata hurried out of the bath, and got dressed before running downstairs to the waiting area.

"Hinata Hyuuga, the Hokage needs to see you at the hospital immediately," he told her in an overly efficient voice.

Hinata looked at the big ANBU ninja and saw tattoo on his arm and was baffled as she thought w_hat could the Hokage possibly want with me? _

"I am ready to leave now," she said over her shoulder as she headed towards the foyer to put her shoes on.

"Good, I will report to her you are on your way," said the ANBU member urgently before dissipating.

Hinata made it to the hospital in record time and was surprised when the Hokage looked at her with obvious relief. "Oh good you're here. I need you to look at something for me," she said in a rushed voice as she led her over to Itachi Uchiha's bedside.

Hinata followed her over to the operating room table. She saw Sasuke's brother stripped down almost completely nude except for some shorts. Even though he was covered in bandages, she had to admit he was one gorgeous man. She slowly started to blush and tried to make it stop. The Hokage leaned over and whispered to her.

"He's quite a hunk, isn't he?" She said teasing her.

Hinata turned bright red before quickly pulling herself together. "Lady Hokage, what is it you need me to do for you?" Hinata asked nervously.

"I need you to look at the chakra coils around his eyes with your Byakugan. I have a theory regarding people with advanced bloodline limits such as the Sharingan. That over time with too much use the chakra coil behind the eyes becomes blocked which results in blindness."

Hinata looked over at him and felt pity. _He is so young to be blind, s_he thought sadly.

"I need you to control your chakra as finely as possible and try to see inside his coils behind his eyes. Do you think you could do that?" The Hokage asked her.

Hinata looked back at her with determination and did not want to let her down. "Yes ma'am, I will try my best."

Hinata looked down at him and felt partially responsible for his being in Konoha and even alive at all. She just knew she had to help him.

"Byakugan," she said activating her bloodline limit. She summoned all of her control and focused on the chakra coil behind his eyes. The young Hyuuga looked, and to her untrained eyes it looked like his chakra coil was not only blocked, but sealed as well.

"Um, Lady Hokage, it looks like his main chakra coils to his eyes are blocked, but they look like they were also sealed. Is it possible he could have sealed them somehow before he collapsed?" Hinata asked with a puzzled look in her eyes.

Tsunade frowned as she considered the possibility. She looked over at the ANBU member across the room. "You" she pointed at him and ordered, "Go find Kakashi and tell I need to see him ASAP."

Hinata watched as the ANBU member disappeared through the bottom of the floor.

"Hinata, while we are waiting for Kakashi, I need your help unblocking his chakra coils. I will need you to keep watch while I unblock them so the chakra will flow freely to his eyes again," the Hokage told her in a voice that made it sound easy.

Inwardly Hinata quaked. _What if I mess up and end up hurting him more or making it worse,_ she thought beginning to panic. She forced herself to calm down; after all the Hokage was ordering her to help her and seemed to have confidence in her abilities.

"Um, okay...what do you need me to do?" Hinata asked her nervously.

"Just use your Byakugan to see if the chakra I am inserting is going in the middle of the coils okay," Tsunade told her patiently.

Hinata took a deep breath before answering her. "Yes ma'am, I think I can do that."

The procedure took about an hour and at the end of it the Hokage was satisfied that they did all they could. Hinata double checked behind his eyes and it looked like the coils were no longer blocked.

"From what I can tell, the coils behind his eyes are clear," Hinata told her in a relieved voice.

Kakashi walked in casually reading one of his orange books. "Yo! Did you need me for something?"

"Yes, I need you to use your Sharingan and try to unseal his eyes. Hinata checked them out with her Byakugan and thinks that he may have sealed them in order to lock away his eyes just before he collapsed."

Kakashi removed the mask from over his eye and looked at Itachi with his Sharingan. "Hinata is right; he did perform a fuinjutsu on himself," he said in a slightly admiring tone. He was impressed that someone of his level of chakra exhaustion could have performed such a high level jutsu just before collapsing.

"I will try to see if I can release it," Kakashi told her before rapidly performing a series of hand seals and saying, "Fuinjutsu release." At the same time he put his hand with his fingers spread out over Itachi's eyes. After a few moments they watched as the seal appeared and then began to disappate.

Hinata watched with her Byakugan and could see the seal disappearing on its own.

"You did it Kakashi-sensei!" Hinata told him in a relieved, but happy voice as she looked down at Sasuke's brother.

A few moments later they saw his white colorless pupils begin to turn back to their usual onyx color. Tsunade was thrilled that her theory had been proven right. There was a smug smile tugging at her lips as she put a bandage over his eyes and had a couple of medics take him into the recovery room.

"Come on Kakashi, this calls for a drink...you're buying," she said in a celebratory mood. Kakashi's shoulders slumped and he put his book away and began to walk towards the door. Before they left the Hokage turned and looked at Hinata with a slight smirk on her face.

"Hinata, you may go home now. Come back in the morning with your report ready for me to read. I am _very interested_ in your part of the mission," Tsunade told her mysteriously.

"Yes, Lady Hokage, I will have it ready for you," Hinata replied obediently before walking out the door to go home. A frown hovered over her forehead as she considered how to write her report without sounding like some sort of mystical freak.

**Author's Note**: In the manga, Itachi coughed up blood near the end, so I gave him an unknown autoimmune disease that Madara said he was dying from. Thanks for reading.

Update: 3/23/13


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

* * *

Sitting at her desk the next morning, the Hokage was looking over Itachi Uchiha's file.

"Hmm, ANBU Captain at age 13," she said out loud impressed and raised her eyebrows. She closed her eyes as a dull ache went through them. Her head was killing her because she was sporting a massive hangover.

_It was fun though,_ she thought with a grin. Last night while she and Kakashi were getting a drink some of the other Jonins had joined them. An amused chuckle escaped her mouth remembering the drunken karaoke contest that Guy, Shizune and Anko had. She moaned and put her hand to her forehead.

Tsunade looked up when her office door opened and she saw Shizune walk in. She noticed a little resentfully her assistant looked as normal as ever.

"Good morning," she said greeting her boss cheerfully.

Tsunade winced at her loud voice. "Why are you so cheerful?"

Shizune blushed. "Um...no reason, my lady."

The Hokage looked at her assistant shrewdly. "If I remember right, didn't Kakashi walk you home early this morning?"

Shizune blushed even deeper and looked out the window with a small smile. "Yes, he did," she said almost dreamily.

Tsunade smirked as she watched her, _Interesting_. "Ouch," she said as another pain lanced her head. "Shizune, go get me something for this hangover and a pot of tea will you."

After Shizune left she was looking over the file on her desk and enjoying the blessed silence when her office door was slammed open abruptly and Naruto barged through it.

"Here's my report Grandma," he said in a loud voice as he placed his badly-written report on her desk.

Tsunade winced again and looked at the yellow-haired ninja with hostile eyes. "NARUTO! GET-OUT-OF-HERE-NOW!"

Naruto looked over at her, surprised at how angry she was. "Sheesh, what's your problem?"

Her head was killing her as she winced and pointed firmly toward the door. He started leaving through the door just as Hinata was about to come in. He put his hands on her shoulders to keep from crashing into her.

"Oh!" Hinata squeaked and was surprised to see his blue eyes so close to hers.

"Sorry Hinata!" Naruto apologized before leaning in and whispering. "Watch out for Granny, she is moody today," he advised her.

Hinata blushed at his proximity and and nodded.

"O-okay, Naruto-kun."

Naruto smiled, oblivious to how she felt about him, before letting her go and leaving the office.

"Ah Hinata, you brought me your report. After reading some of the others, I am very curious to see your version," the Hokage told her and began reading it with obvious interest, her voice was distracted as she dismissed her and told her to come back later this afternoon.

"Yes Lady Hokage." Hinata said nervously before she left the office.

Shizune came back into her office carrying a tray with a pot of tea and a cup and a glass with a putrid green-looking substance in it.

"Here you are, drink up," she said holding back a grin.

Tsunade grimaced. "What the hell is that stuff, Shizune?"

Her assistant smiled as she handed the glass to her. "It's my family's secret cure for hangovers. I promise you it will work wonders."

Tsunade took the glass from her and warily smelled the contents of the glass. The toxic fumes from the concoction was making her sensitive stomach even more queasy. She pinched her nose and shook her head no.

"Come on just try it. I had a glass of it this morning and look at me," Shizune coaxed her.

Tsunade looked over at her assistant. _She was pretty wasted last night, but look at her now. She looks like she didn't drink at all, _Tsunade thought as she considered drinking the vile stuff.

"Okay, I'll drink it," she said convinced. "Just tell me what's in it?"

"Oh, you don't want to know, trust me," Shizune said looking at the glass with a grimace.

Tsunade looked back at the glass and took a deep breath. She held the glass up and drank half of it all at once. As the contents of the glass went down her throat she began to think that it was the most vile stuff she had ever tasted. After she swallowed it she began to gag and rushed out the door to her bathroom.

Shizune gave a small laugh as she remembered how she did pretty much the same thing this morning.

She went over to the desk and saw the name of the file on it. Uchiha, Itachi. She read through it impressed. H_e is quite the Shinobi,_ she thought. "Too bad he is a murderer," she said outloud to herself sadly. Reading through it some more she gasped when she saw a chakra mark on it. _I wonder if Tsunade saw it, or even noticed it, s_he thought wryly. Her head swiveled up from the file when she saw her boss come back into the office.

"How do you feel?" she asked her with a touch of amusement in her voice.

"I am starting to feel better Shizune. That vile stuff actually works," Tsunade told her with a relieved laugh as she sat back behind her desk.

Shizune pointed to the chakra mark on the file. "Do you know what that symbol means?"

Tsunade scrunched up her forehead and looked around as she tried to remember what that symbol meant. She closed her eyes for a moment.

"Wait a minute, I got it...it means they have a secret file." Her eyes opened wide in surprise before she began to rummage through her desk for the key. She found it and handed it to her assistant.

"Shizune, hurry and get me his file. Oh, and send me someone from ANBU immediately," she directed her assistant firmly.

_Itachi Uchiha, I so am glad I kept you alive,_ she thought curiously as she took a sip of her tea and waited for Shizune to bring her the file.

* * *

Itachi had been in a deep sleep when he sensed someone had come into his room. He grunted in pain when he felt someone punch him hard in the stomach. The ANBU member sneered down at him. "Traitor, I am going to enjoy watching Ibiki interrogate you. I hope they execute you," he said cruelly before roughly slapping the injured ninja's face. After delivering one more blow to Itachi's stomach, he dissipated angrily from the room.

Groaning, Itachi rolled over on his side in pain and clutched his stomach. He was still so weak and disoriented there was no way he could have fought back. For a moment he sat there still hazy with medication and wondered where he was. A sharp pain struck his stomach, alerting him to the fact, that he was still alive and the sterile smell around him told him he was in a hospital.

His hands slowly reached up to his eyes and he could feel a heavy bandage covered them.

_What did they do to my eyes_? He thought in alarm as he opened his eyelids under the bandages. It all appeared fuzzy for a while and then he thought he could see some light through the bandage. His mind realed in shock, _I can see_. It was the last thought he had before he passed out from the pain.

The nurse looked down at the infamous S-ranked criminal laying in the bed. Nel was checking his vitals when she noticed the bruise on his cheek. _That wasn't there the last time I checked him?_ She thought with a frown. She lifted up his hospital gown and saw the bruises on his stomach. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion as she looked at the door.

_ANBU is the only one allowed in here besides the nursing staff,_ Nel reasoned angrily. She left the room and was careful to not say anything in front of the ANBU guard outside of the room as she used one of the hospital staff to send a message to the Hokage immediately.

While Tsunade was waiting for Shizune to return she read Hinata's mission report. Her eyes opened slightly when she read about Hinata's reoccurring dream.

"Hmm, interesting." As a medical professional and a ninja she had seen many things that were impossible to explain. She also knew Hinata, the girl simply was incapable of lying. If she said she had been dreaming of the fight before the Uchiha boys fought, then it must be true. Strange, i_t almost seems like she has a connection of some sort to one of them,_ she wondered to herself as she tried to figure this mystery out.

A knock sounded on her door and she was suprised to see a staff member from the hospital with a note from Nel, the nurse taking care of Itachi Uchiha. Her eyes became dark with anger when she read the message. _Those damn ANBU!_

"Tell Nel I will take care of it," she said firmly to the messenger before dismissing him.

Shizune came back into the office with the secret file. "Here it is, Tsunade."

The Hokage began to read through it in shock at what it contained, but hid it when she saw the ANBU member enter her office.

"I am to be notified when Itachi Uchiha wakes up immediately," she stated with hard eyes before threatening, "Also, if anyone from your department injures him again, I will have that person punished severely. Your department is to watch over him and keep him from escaping and keep people out. Those are your only duties in regards to the prisoner. Now go find Hinata Hyuuga and tell her to come to my office immediately," she told him before she dismissed him, wanting him out of her sight.

Author's Note: I am in the process of cleaning up this story trying to make it better. I hope you like it:)

Revision: 3/23/13


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Working in her garden, pruning her rose bushes, Hinata yawned slightly, because she had gotten up early to complete her mission report for the Hokage. She looked down at the ground with a slight blush when she remembered what she had written in the report.

_She is going to think I am crazy, when she reads the part about my dreams,_ Hinata thought uncomfortably. She also had another reason for being sleepy. Last night after returning home she had dreamt another sort of dream...

_It was almost dark and Hinata was standing by the river in a remote area by one of the training grounds. In the dream Hinata didn't know why she was crying, she just was. She leaned over the river bed and cupped some water in her hands to rinse off her face. The water felt cool against her puffy eyes. After partially drying her face with her shirt sleeve she stood up and turned around. A gasp escaped her lips when she saw someone standing right in front of her. Looking up slowly she stared straight into cold onyx eyes. The other thing she noticed about him was the hidden leaf forehead protector he was wearing was new and no longer had a line through it._

_"Why are you out here alone?" He asked her in a hard voice._

_"Um, I-I needed to be by myself," Hinata replied as she took a nervous step back. He looked back at her impatiently like she was an idiot. _

_"I will walk you home," he said before turning around and heading back towards town. _

_She stared and watched him walk away for a while before reluctantly following him. A few moments later she caught up to him and they walked together in silence. By the time they made it just outside the clan compound walls it was completely dark outside. Hinata had just turned to politely thank him when she felt his hands firmly grip her shoulders and she watched as he slowly lowered his face toward hers and kissed her on the lips. It only lasted a second before he disappeared in the darkness. Hinata stood there for a moment in shock as she lightly touched her mouth. _

Then she woke up.

Hinata shook her head in utter disbelief. _This dream couldn't possibly be like the other one. There is no way something like that is going to happen,_ she thought as she blushed hotly. _It's probably because I saw him almost naked last night, _she rationalized to herself trying to compose herself.

"I like Naruto, I like Naruto," she chanted out loud to herself trying to make the images of the dream in her head go away.

_Besides, I will probably never see him again anyway. He is a missing nin and a criminal, and will most likely be locked up when he gets out of the hospital,_ she reasoned to herself before a puzzling new thought entered her brain...s_o, why was he wearing a new forehead protector in the dream?_

Those bewildering thoughts dominated her mind until she was almost done working in her garden and one of the branch members came up behind her.

"Hinata-sama, there is an ANBU member at the gate, he says you are to go see the Hokage immediately," he told her with a bow.

"Thank you; please relay to him I will leave as soon as I am able," she told him before he left.

_I wonder if she wants to talk to me about my report, s_he thought before she went inside to wash her hands and get cleaned up.

* * *

Hinata knocked timidly on the Hokage's door.

"Come in," she heard a loud voice say.

Opening the door slowly she stepped into the office and bowed respectfully in greeting, "Lady Hokage, you wanted to see me?"

"Ah yes, have a seat Hinata. I have an assignment for you," the Hokage said with a smirk on her face as she studied the young ninja before her. "I read your report, Hinata, I found it to be very...interesting."

Hinata blushed. The Hokage looked at her speculatively.

"Well, regardless of how the events came to be in the mission, no one can deny that you found them, and Konoha will benefit from having both Uchiha brothers under our authority again," Tsunade said not making her give her any explanations.

"Lady Hokage, what is going to happen to them now?" Hinata asked quietly.

"Well, I am not sure Hinata. They will have to be interrogated and depending upon how cooperative they are, then I will make my decision about their futures," Tsunade explained to her.

Hinata looked down at the floor. _I hope you aren't too hard on him,_ she worried about the older brother.

"Hinata, here is your assignment...I want you to keep watch over Itachi Uchiha while he is in the hospital. We have had some incidents of people injuring him while he has been recovering. No one is to come near him without authorization from me. Do not trust any ANBU members to be alone with him. You may take breaks only when Nel comes into check on him. She is the nurse that discovered someone was harming him. Also, I want to be informed immediately when he wakes up. Any questions?"

Hinata shook her head. "No ma'am."

"Fine, then you are dismissed," Tsunade said firmly.

Hinata felt angered that someone would dare to harm a person while they were recovering in a hospital bed. It shocked her and made her feel protective like a mother hen watching over her chick. But there was another part of her that was confused as to why she was chosen for the job. After all, there were plenty of other people who could do this assignment just as good as she could. Then it dawned on her that there was something in the way the Hokage had looked at her while giving her the assignment...it was almost like she thought..._I liked him or something._

_Oh no! _

"I don't like anyone like that except for Naruto-kun," she reminded herself firmly.

Now that she remembered who she really liked she felt better about her assignment. _It doesn't matter why she chose me, I will just do my best_.

When she got to his door she showed the ANBU member her orders from the Hokage. Under her watchful eyes, his body language appeared to stiffen as he allowed her access to the room. Hinata looked over at the man sleeping in the bed and felt pity for him. He was still so young, in his early twenties, to have lived such a life. She looked at his face and saw the ugly bruise on his cheek.

_That bruise wasn't there when I saw him last night,_ she thought angrily. She rummaged through her pack and found her homemade ointment. After dabbing a little on her fingers, she gently applied it to his skin. Under her fingers she felt him tense slightly and almost jerked her hand back when she thought she might have woken him up. She looked down at him and he appeared to still be sleeping, so she applied a little more of it to the bruise. After she put the ointment away she sat down in the chair next to his bed and for a few moments she simply watched him while he slept.

* * *

Itachi sensed someone come into his room. He immediately relaxed as he recognized her chakra. She was with him last night in the operating room and her presence had been soothing to him. There was something calming about her that drew him to her. He almost moved when he felt her fingers touch his face.

It had been a long time since he had felt someone touch him like that. Her fingers began to gently apply some ointment to his cheek and somehow it helped the pain to go away. He almost smiled before he began to fall asleep again.

* * *

Hinata looked down at him and felt a strong urge to remove the bandages from his eyes. She kept remembering how warm his eyes looked just before he kissed her in the dream. Her cheeks grew flushed when she looked at his mouth and could almost feel it against hers. Standing up quickly, she went over and stood in front of the window, while twisting her hands nervously. _What am I doing?_ She asked herself and wondered what it was about him that affected her so much.

She heard the door open and saw an older nurse come through it.

"Oh hello, I am Nel," the lady greeted her in a warm voice.

Hinata walked over to her and bowed politely. "Nice to meet you, I am Hinata Hyuuga, the Hokage sent me to keep watch over him."

The nurse smiled. "I'm glad, I don't think anyone deserves to be treated like that," she said with tight lips at the thought of what had happened earlier.

Hinata nodded agreeing with her. "Ma'am, the Hokage said I could take a break while you were with him, when do you want me to come back?"

"Why don't you go get some dinner and come back in forty five minutes. By the way, has the patient woken up at all while you have been in here?"

"Um no, he hasn't."

Nel looked down at him slightly worried. "Okay, I will see you when you come back."

Hinata smiled gratefully. "Thank you, I will return soon."

Hinata walked over to Ichiraku Ramen, hoping the sight of Naruto would put her life back into perspective. She looked over at all the empty stools and didn't see a familiar blonde ninja sitting on any of them. _Naruto isn't here_, she thought sadly as she sunk down on one of them and ordered a Miso ramen from the owner, Teuchi. She was sitting there quietly eating her ramen when Naruto finally showed up.

"Hey Naruto," Teuchi greeted him cheerfully, he was always glad to see his best customer.

"Give me two pork ramens, Old Man," Naruto called out loudly to him.

Hinata blushed and hoped he would sit next to her. Her wish was granted when she saw him head in her direction.

"Hello Hinata, I almost didn't notice you there. You are so quiet," he said to her while sitting down in the seat next to hers.

She almost felt a little insulted, but she remembered that Naruto would never do anything like that, he was just being his usual blunt and honest self.

"H-Hi Naruto-kun, would you like to join me," she asked him timidly.

"Sure, how have you been?" He asked her.

"Fine, how about you?"

"Well, I have been training..." He went on and on, endlessly about his training and the missions he had been on lately. When his food came, she finally got a chance to respond to him.

"Ah, that sounds nice Naruto-kun," she said to him before going back to eating her food. _I am sitting next to Naruto eating dinner! _She thought excitedly. Another voice inside her head also told her, s_o why am I not happier about it? _She decided to ignore that one as she looked over at Naruto and sighed.

"Hey Hinata," Naruto said as he looked at her. "You did a really great job on that last mission. We probably would have never gotten to Sasuke if you hadn't found him first," he told her sincerely, his eyes were bright with unshed tears.

Hinata was completely taken aback at his praise. She felt the familiar blood rush to her cheeks and her eyes started to roll back in her head. At the last minute she remembered her mission. _I must not faint,_ she willed herself as she pushed herself forward. She almost landed her face in her ramen bowl, but it was worth it.

_I did it, I kept myself from fainting!_ She congratulated herself before she looked over at Naruto and saw he was completely oblivious to her struggle and was back to slurping his ramen.

Hinata remembered about the time as she noticed it was getting darker outside.

"I need to go Naruto-kun, it was good eating dinner with you," she said as she felt her cheeks become tinged pink. She left some money on the counter for her meal and his before turning to leave.

Naruto swallowed a big mouthful of noodles before he turned and waved to her. "See ya, Hinata," he said loudly before getting back to eating his ramen.

Hinata hurried back to the Uchiha's room and saw the nurse sitting on the chair next to his bed. She still couldn't think of _him_ by his first name. It just wasn't proper, since they haven't been formally introduced. Y_et it is alright to dream about kissing him, a_n ironic voice went through her mind. She refused to think about the logic of that thought and thanked the nurse for giving her a break.

"I'll come back later," Nel told Hinata.

Hinata sat back down in the chair next to him and took out something to read. _I might as well find something do other than stare at him._ Over the pages of her book her eyes were drawn to the lower half of his face before they settled on his mouth and lingered there.

_What is wrong with me? I shouldn't be staring at him like this,_ she reprimanded herself and wished she had never had that dream in the first place.

She looked down at his hands and saw the ring on his finger and sucked in her breath. It had the kanj for scarlett on it. _An Akatsuki ring. _Looking over at him now in his hospital gown, it was hard to imagine him being part of that evil, S-ranked criminal organization. His skin was still deathly pale and he looked almost too weak to hurt a fly.

Hinata remembered back to the fight he had with his brother and knew he was not weak. He had frightened her with how powerful he was with those deadly black flames. _He was scary powerful,_ she thought amazed as she looked down at him.

The heater clicked on and it drew her attention away from him, so she lifted up her book in front of her and began to read some more. After a while the lack of sleep over the past few days caught up with her and within a few minutes she nodded off. She didn't realize that while she fell asleep she had leaned over and was resting her head on his bed. Pretty soon, she began to dream...

**Author's Note**: I did some editing and made some minor changes, hopefully I improved it. Thanks for reading. 3/23/13


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

* * *

Itachi woke up and he could tell it was still dark outside because he was not able to see any light through the bandage around his eyes. Moving his hand a little toward the edge of the bed and he felt something like silk.

_Someone is lying partially on my bed,_ he thought to himself. When he smelled the slight scent of lavender coming from her hair and after sensing her chakra, he knew it was the same girl from before. He wondered why she was in the room with him. He was sure he had never met her before when he lived in Konoha.

Hinata woke up with a slight smile on her face. The dream felt so real she could still feel the light touch of his lips against hers. However, this time when she woke up from it, she wanted more...much more. She could still feel his strong hands as they gripped her shoulders and pulled her against his body.

Sighing out loud, she opened her eyes and was horrified when she saw he had his hand wrapped in her hair. Blushing hotly, Hinata immediately disentagled his hand from her hair and sat up quickly. Somehow while she was sleeping she had hooked her foot around the base of the chair leg and she ended up falling off the side of the chair onto the floor.

"Oomph!" She breathed out in pain as she fell onto her hip and was sprawled out onto the floor. She laid there for a moment and wanted to die of embarrassment. _Oh Kami_, _I hope he is still sleeping,_ Hinata prayed silently.

Her hopes were soon dashed to pieces when she heard him ask in a dry-sounding voice, "Are you okay?"

Hinata sat up and put her red face in her hands before answering him. "I'm fine."

She silently got up off of the floor and gingerly rubbed her hip with her hand. _I am probably going to have a bruise there tomorrow,_ she thought feeling very foolish.

Hinata sat back in the chair and looked over at him in the moonlight. She almost sighed again when she gazed at his mouth. She was surprised when he turned his head toward her.

"Why are you staring at me?" He asked her in a cool voice.

Hinata immediately turned away and stared out the window. _How can he tell I was staring at him? His eyes are covered in bandages,_ she thought becoming even more discomposed by the second.

"I'm sorry; I guess I am just curious," she apologized softly.

He did not bother to give her a response as an annoyed sigh left his mouth.

An uncomfortable silence permeated the room as Hinata continued to stare emotionally out the window. _My dream cannot possibly come true. He hates me and thinks I am an idiot. Besides, he is not very nice anyway,_ she thought and wanted to get out of the room as soon as possible.

"I'm thirsty," she heard his hoarse voice tell her.

Hinata saw the pitcher of water on the nightstand and poured some in a glass for him. After gently putting her arm under his pillow, she lifted up his head so he could drink while she patiently waited for him to drink as much as he could. Her pulse betrayed her and began to race when she saw how close his face was to hers. After he was finished she gently lowered him back down and set the almost empty glass near the pitcher.

"Thank you," he told her quietly.

Hinata's eyebrows rose a little when she saw he could be polite.

"You're welcome," she said softly. She had just sat back down in the chair next to his bed when Nel came in the room. The nurse looked over at Hinata with a questioning look.

"Has the patient woken up yet?"

Hinata nodded. "Yes, he woke up a few moments ago," Hinata told her as she quickly exited the room. She found the nearest bathroom and tried to compose herself.

Looking at her watch, Hinata saw that it was after midnight. She headed over to the cafeteria and was grateful that it was still open. Looking around her she was glad that it was nearly empty of people. After dishing up a bowl of soup and she grabbed a roll and went over to the cashier to pay for her food.

After she sat down, Hinata began to calm down a bit as she began to eat her food. She was just so confused about him and her reaction to him whenever she was around him.

_Why do I keep dreaming about someone like him? I don't even like him. _ She sat there thinking about how he caught her staring at him and had to cut him some slack. _I probably wouldn't have liked it either if someone kept staring at me,_ Hinata admitted in all fairness to herself.

_Still, _she sighed,_ I hope I never have that dream again. Why can't I dream about Naruto? He is so cute with his bright blue eyes and spiky blonde hair_. She complained inwardly. Hinata tried to conjure up the same emotions about Naruto that she was feeling for the Uchiha, but it felt flat.

"I still like Naruto...a lot," she told herself stubbornly and willed herself to think about him rather than a pair of onyx eyes and his beautifully sculptured chest and abs.

Hinata took a deep breath and cleared her treacherous mind of all mental pictures of him and tried to focus on her duty.

"The Hokage wanted to see the Uchiha as soon as he woke up," she reminded herself in low voice. She decided to see if he was still awake before she went to notify her. Finishing her food quickly she began to walk towards his room.

Ignoring the ANBU member outside the door, she walked past him and knocked on the door.

"Come in," she heard the nurse's voice tell her. Hinata slowly opened the door.

"Is it okay if I come in?" She asked her in a tentative voice.

"Yes, in fact I just completed my examination of him," Hinata walked over to the nurse and drew her aside and whispered.

"Should I notify the Hokage now that he is awake?"

Nel shook her head no. "He is sleeping again, let's wait until morning, he is still very weak," she told Hinata.

Hinata looked over at him and saw he appeared to be asleep. Hinata couldn't help staring at him again when she noticed the bandages from his eyes had been removed. Nel looked over at Hinata and smiled knowingly.

"He is very good looking, isn't he?" She teased her.

Hinata blushed and quickly looked away. _Why does everyone keep catching me staring at him_? She thought disgusted with herself. Hinata smiled weakly at her.

"Um, I guess so," she admitted quietly.

Nel walked over and turned one of the lights off and left a small light on in the corner.

"I am going home for the night. I will see you in the morning," she told Hinata. "Notify the night nurse if his condition worsens."

"Yes ma'am, I will," Hinata responded quietly and silently waved bye to her. Walking over to the small couch under the window, she sat down and made herself comfortable.

She sighed to herself as she looked outside and stared at the full moon and the bright stars. _It is so beautiful tonight,_ she wished she was walking out there right now instead of being cooped up in this hospital room.

Itachi moved his head toward the window after the nurse had left. He had pretended to be asleep so he could listen to their conversation. S_o, the Hokage is coming to visit me in the morning_. He ignored the part about his looks; he dismissed it as feminine nonsense. What he really wanted to do was test his vision. He wanted to make sure that his eyes were completely healed.

After all he was a master at performing seals and he had a hard time believing that someone was able to remove it completely from his eyes. Opening his eyes slowly he looked over towards the window. He blinked a few times until his eyes adjusted to the faint light.

Itachi almost smiled when he saw her, the clumsy one with the peaceful chakra. Her face was turned away from him, but he noticed she had lovely indigo colored hair. He laid there almost mesmerized at how the moonlight glistened off of it and made it seem as if she had a halo around her. He rolled his eyes cynically at how poetic he was being.

Hinata felt his eyes on her. _Is he awake? It feels like he is staring at me,_ she thought nervously. After silently activating her Byakugan, she was disappointed when it appeared as if his eyes were closed.

Turning her head slowly to look at him she told herself, j_ust a little peek to make sure he is still sleeping_. Hinata did not want to get caught staring at him again, especially not by him! She opened her eyes and almost gasped when she made contact with his dark eyes.

Hinata turned away from him so he wouldn't see how he affected her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She never expected the impact making eye contact with him would have on her. When she had looked at him she felt this powerful connection between the two of them. _I wonder if he felt it too,_ she thought feeling slightly overwhelmed. _Why him and not Naruto_?

Itachi looked over at her and saw she was affected by him in some way. _Is she afraid of me?_ He wondered starting to become irritated seeing how nervous he made her.

"What is your name Hyuuga-san?" He asked her, knowing she was a Hyuuga from her eyes.

Hinata nervously turned toward him and hoped her voice wouldn't crack.

"Hinata. I was sent from the Hokage to watch over you while you recuperate," she told him quietly. She was overjoyed when her voice was almost normal.

His eyebrow raised slightly as he thought back to the incident with the ANBU member last night. It surprised him that the Hokage would provide protection for a traitor like him.

Itachi looked at his protector. He was grateful the Hokage sent him someone who was quiet. _Not to mention beautiful,_ his mind told him. He ignored that foolish voice; he had other things to deal with in the near future considering he was going to be interrogated soon. He was also worried about his brother.

Itachi looked at her and noticed her bare forehead.

"Are you the heiress?" He asked her quietly.

"Yes," Hinata replied without looking back at him. She could feel his eyes on her, so she risked looking back at him. Unfortunately she could not stop herself from blushing when her eyes made contact with his.

He looked over at her seriously. "My brother - is he okay?" For just a moment she thought she saw an emotion she couldn't identify in his eyes before he covered it up.

She was surprised at how concerned he was for his brother considering how they were trying to kill each other the other day.

"He is fine; he is recovering in a room down the hall. I-I don't think he has woken up yet," she told him quietly.

Hinata thought she saw him smile slightly before turning away from her. She put her hands on her stomach as she felt flutters go through it. That smile did funny things to her insides. She sighed deeply before leaning back on the couch and looking out the window. It was going to be a long night.

**Author's Note**: 3/23/13, edited.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

* * *

It was almost morning when Itachi woke up. He sat up and slowly opened his eyes and was still amazed at how clear his vision was. He had not been able to see this well in years.

_Madara lied to me, there was another way to cure my blindness,_ he thought angrily at how he had been deceived for all these years. He was brought out of his thoughts when he heard the Hyuga heiress give a soft sigh. Itachi looked over and saw she was sleeping on the couch. He watched as the corners of her mouth lifted into a slow soft smile and her hand reached up and gently touched her mouth. A few minutes later she snuggled down further into the couch and he could hear her soft breathing.

_She must be having some dream,_ he thought to himself amused.

Itachi looked over at the bathroom door and tried determine if he had enough strength to make it over there on his own. He decided to try. After gradually putting his legs over the edge of the bed, he pushed off and with old man slowness he stood up. He had was just beginning to walk with tiny steps when he saw her open her eyes.

Hinata looked up and her mouth formed an "oh," when she noticed he was standing up and walking. While sitting herself up on the edge of the couch she asked him if he needed any help.

"I am fine," he replied stubbornly, his voice was warning her not to argue with him.

After he finally made it into the bathroom, Hinata left the room and found his nurse.

"Nel, he is awake. I am going to run to the Hokage's office and let her know she can see him this morning."

Nel looked over at her and thanked her. Hinata left the hospital and went over to the Hokage's office.

The Hokage was standing in front of her desk when Hinata entered her office.

"Lady Hokage, he is awake. He actually woke up for a little bit last night, but his nurse decided he was still too weak to see you." Hinata tried but she could not stop herself from blushing.

The Hokage's sharp eyes picked up on the blush. "Hinata did something happen between the two of you that would cause you to blush like that?" She asked her shrewdly.

Hinata looked at her hands feeling embarrassed. "N-no, of course not," she replied nervously.

Tsunade looked at her closely. _It looks like someone has a crush,_ she thought with a smirk.

"Hinata, why don't you go home and rest? I will get Ino to stay with him until after dinner, and then you can take over with him until morning. You are dismissed," she told her firmly.

Grateful for the reprieve, Hinata ran home and went straight to bed. Before she fell asleep she hoped she wouldn't dream about him, it was beginning to upset her. She hated how irrational she was acting and just before she fell asleep the smile he wore on his face when she mentioned his brother was safe flashed in her mind.

* * *

Itachi woke up late in the morning when he heard a firm knock on the door. He didn't respond but the person entered anyway. He sat up when he saw it was the Hokage. Pulling the chair away from his bed she sat down and looked at him. _No wonder Hinata blushes so easily when he is mentioned, he really is a hottie. All the girls in the village are going to crazy for him and his brother,_ she thought amused.

"So Uchiha, I have been reading up on you, the Third Hokage wrote some interesting memos about you. What do you have to say for yourself and why haven't you contacted me sooner?" She scolded him.

He looked back at her in a detached manner. "I never planned to disclose my mission to anyone. I always intended for my brother to kill me and I would pass on my jutsu to him. I am not sure how you found us, but living was not part of my plan."

The Hokage smiled grimly. "You can thank Hinata, she was the one who found you. She spotted you guys fighting with her Byakugan and we were able to reach you before Akatsuki did and brought you back to the village," she told him watching him closely to see how he responded to the news.

His face remained perfectly calm and detached.

_He is a cool one, very composed,_ she thought impressed.

"After you arrived here you almost got your wish," she told him firmly.

"Why didn't you just let me die, it was what I wanted?" He asked her coldly.

"You are a valuable source of information. At least that is what I thought in the beginning. Now after reading your file I have found that you are a double agent and loyal to Konoha. Is that true...are you still loyal to us," the Hokage asked him in a hard voice.

Itachi looked over at her unhesitatingly. "Yes...I always have been."

She looked at him and knew she had made the right choice when she kept him alive.

"I believe you," she told him simply based on the fact in his notes in the file, her mentor, The Third, appeared to admire and trust the young man in front of her. "If you cooperate with us, I will give you and your brother a second chance," she offered him.

Itachi looked over at her closely before responding. "I will cooperate fully with you, if you promise not to harm my brother," he pleaded with her quietly.

"That will depend upon him, I am going to talk to him next," the Hokage told him before getting up.

"Who removed the seal from my eyes?" He asked her tiredly.

The Hokage looked down at him curiously at his question before she answered him.

"Kakashi did after Hinata and I healed them. She guided me with her Byakugan while I removed the blockage in your chakra coils behind your eyes," she told him before leaving.

"So, I have her to thank for this too," Itachi said to himself before going back to sleep.

Itachi woke up when he heard someone enter the room. He looked up from his bed and saw an attractive blonde girl with stunning blue eyes.

"Hi I'm Ino, the Hokage ordered me to stay with you today," she said flirtatiously in a loud voice. Itachi groaned mentally as he quickly turned toward the wall and pretended to go to sleep. He no longer found her to be attractive.

Hinata woke up late in the afternoon with a soft smile on her face, she had dreamed of him again. A long frustrated sigh escaped her mouth as she wondered why she was being tortured like this. Other than being her assignment, she didn't want to have anything to do with him. After getting out of bed, Hinata went into her bathroom and took a shower.

Feeling slightly better after she was clean and found new clothes to wear, Hinata went into the kitchen to make herself something to eat. While she was cooking she thought about Itachi. Now that she had met him she supposed she could call him by name.

_I should probably make some food for him, since hospital food is so horrible, Hinata_ thought as she put a bento box together for him. She looked in the fridge and saw some gyoza dumplings and rice balls from her family's lunch earlier today. She also filled up a container of iced tea to bring with her while she was on duty tonight.

* * *

Itachi sat up in bed with a glazed look in his eyes. He felt like his torture had already begun. Ino sat in the chair next to him and had rattled on endlessly about so many things he gave up even trying to listen. His patience was almost at an end.

_If she mentions her skill in arranging flowers one more time..and asks me what is my favorite color is again. I am going to... h_e thought to himself wanting to tell her what she could do with those flowers.

Itachi looked up when he heard someone knock on the door. He almost kissed her when he saw his nurse, Nel walk into the room.

Ino looked sad. "Well Itachi, I guess I have to go now. You are a real good listener, hopefully I can come back tomorrow," she said before blowing him a kiss and leaving the room.

Itachi glanced over at Nel. "I don't want her to come back," he said tiredly. She looked at him and put her hand on his forehead. "I will let the Hokage know," she told him while hiding her amusement. _I bet he would much rather have Hinata with him,_ she thought with a smile, her matchmaking instincts kicking in.

Hinata took a deep breath before knocking on the door, she had her hands full with her pack and the large bento box she had with her. She heard Nel's voice telling her to enter.

"Hello Nel, I brought some food for him from home. Will he be allowed to eat it?" She asked timidly after she came through the door.

She glanced warily over at the bed and saw it was empty. He was standing in his hospital gown looking out the window; she could see his boxer shorts through the opening in the back of the hospital gown. Hinata quickly averted her eyes back to Nel.

Nel gave her an amused look. She had learned from the Hokage about Itachi being a double agent and was not surprised to find out that he wasn't as evil as everyone thought he was. She grinned when she caught Hinata staring at his backside again.

"Yes, Hinata. Some decent food would be good for him as long as he is able to tolerate it," the nurse said giving her approval.

Hinata assured her that the food was quite bland.

"I will come back and check on you before my shift is over," Nel told Itachi before she left the room.

He turned around and watched as she left the room before looking over at Hinata. She quickly turned away from him. Itachi frowned. _Why is she so nervous around me? _He asked himself as he looked at her.

Itachi sat down on the couch and felt his stomach begin to rumble. Hinata blushed and handed him some chopsticks.

"I hope you like chicken and rice. I made it myself," she said shyly as she handed him the bento box.

"Thank you," he told her quietly. She went over to her back pack and brought out the container of tea. After pouring some in a cup she set it on the end-table next to him.

Itachi opened up the box and was very happy when he saw the variety of food in it. He picked up a rice ball with his chopsticks and took a bite. He almost closed his eyes when he tasted how delicious it was. He ate most of the food in record time.

"That was excellent, thank you," he told her politely.

Hinata blushed uncomfortably and looked at the ground. "You're welcome, some of it came from our family's cook and I made the rest," she admitted with a small smile.

He put the lid on the box and set it on the table. He looked over at her seriously.

"Hyuuga-san, I hear you are the one who spotted my brother and I. Thank you for saving my brother, I did not want Akatsuki to get a hold of him," he told her quietly.

She looked up at him surprised at how sincere he sounded. "Um, you're welcome," Hinata replied feeling flustered. She took a deep breath before asking him, "What about you, are you glad to be back?"

Itachi stared out in front of him for several moments before responding to her. "I didn't exactly leave Konoha under the best of circumstances," he reminded her coolly.

"I know," She said softly and tried to keep the pity from showing in her eyes.

Hinata watched as he drank the rest of his tea and stood up and walked into the bathroom. The conversation was over.

Sighing softly to herself she walked over and put the almost empty bento box in her back pack and took out a book and sat down on the couch.

Itachi came out of the bathroom and laid down on the bed. He could feel his strength was returning to him gradually. He was wondering how much of his jutsu remained considering he transfered most of it to his brother. When he first woke up in the operating room he had been angry that he wasn't dead.

That was before he figured out his eyes had been healed along with his autoimmune disease. _At least I still have my Sharingan,_ he thought relieved. A small part of him was almost excited at the prospect of testing his abilities now that he no longer could rely on his Mangekyo Sharingan or the Amaterasu.

His eyes turned toward the Hyuuga heiress. _I owe this second chance to you, h_e thought silently thanking her.

Hinata felt his eyes on her as she tried to read, but didn't have the nerve to turn towards him and make eye contact. After a few moments of continually feeling his gaze upon her she turned cautiously toward him and locked eyes with him. She gasped and her palms began to sweat as she felt what seemed to be an invisible current pass between them.

Itachi looked in her eyes and felt himself become a little lost in them. Neither one of them knew for how long they stared at each other or even who looked away first before the feeling was gone.

Itachi laid down on his back and stared at the ceiling. _What just happened between us? Why do I feel such a powerful connection with her?_ He wondered and as he looked over at her across the room he saw that she was also affected.

_I am an S-ranked criminal, I'm sure her father would welcome me as a suitor for her,_ he thought sarcastically as he tried to put her out of his mind.

Itachi watched as Hinata looked over at him and smiled shyly at him. _Putting her out of my mind is going to be harder than I thought,_ he said mentally to himself as he sighed.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Please note I am not going to focus much attention on Sasuke and Itachi. The Hokage is going to have a little talk with Sasuke and then the brothers are going to work things out behind the scenes. One of my other fics has dealt with their relationship extensively and I do not have the energy to write about it in this one. I mainly plan to focus on Itachi and Hinata and not get bogged down in the many details that exist in the manga. It will make me too crazy. Please give me some feedback, it really does help motivate me:)

Edited: 3/23/13


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

* * *

**_(Timeskip: 2 weeks)_**

Walking stifly into her room after a family practice session, Hinata began to stretch out her muscles and try to unblock her chakra points. As she applied ointment to the sore areas, she had to admit to herself she was having trouble focusing. She had struggled so much at practice, her father told her to leave the training area until tomorrow and come back with a more focused mind.

Since he had left the hospital, she had thought of barely anything else, but him for the past few weeks.

After shaking her head trying to clear away the fog she began to take her clothes off to take a bath. Hinata caught a glimpse of herself in the long mirror in her bathroom and was critical of what she saw there. Looking at her long silky indigo colored hair, she had to admit she did have decent enough hair. Especially now that she had let it grow out longer. She also thought that she had a nice enough face.

But when her eyes glanced at her figure in the mirror that was where she began to become unhappy. She turned sideways and saw how large her chest was. It wasn't nice and thin like the other girls she hung out with, a slight frown touched her brow as she turned on the water.

Hinata wondered about him as she soaked in the tub and how he had been doing the past few weeks. The last time she saw him he was on his way to be interrogated at ANBU Headquarters. During that time she had slipped him a few home-cooked meals when Kakashi had been sent in to interrogate him and she hoped he got them. The last she had heard was that he and his brother had been pardoned by the Hokage and even had been reinstated as active duty ninjas again.

_So my dream was right, he was wearing a new headband in it, s_he thought amazed as she remembered that detail. The Hokage had called a meeting with all the ninjas and released the truth about him that he had been ordered to kill his clan by the leaders of Konoha and the Third Hokage and has been a secret agent working against Akatsuki for Konoha all along! She still couldn't believe it, he really was a good person after all.

She thought about her dreams about him and sighed. Each night she still had the same dream and it never changed. It always happened exactly the same way it did in the first one she had. The dreams were incredibly vivid and felt so real to her. Each morning she would wake up feeling like it had really happened to her. It was both amazing and frustrating to her at the same time.

The next thing she kept thinking about was when was it going to happen and did she have to do something to make it happen, or will it just happen on its own. The only thing she knew for sure was that she wanted it to happen, so she could move on with her life and stop thinking about him.

After getting out of the tub and put on some training clothes, she went into the kitchen and packed herself a large lunch for her and her team-mates. She knew they always appreciated it when she brought them something. It made her feel like she was contributing something extra to the team. When she was done she put it in her back pack and headed out towards Team Eight's training grounds.

While she was on the way she saw a bunch of people standing around and watching over at the training ground next to hers. She went over to see what all of the commotion was and immediately blushed when she saw who it was. Itachi was there with his brother and they were sparring against each other. Her face grew very warm when she saw they were both training with their shirts off and were wearing only training pants.

Itachi had a necklace around his neck and sweat was glistening off his sculpted chest. Hinata broke out in a sweat as she saw how beautifully and powerfully he moved and immediately began to blush a fiery red color. She quickly turned away and hoped no one noticed her staring at him. She decided to head over to her training area and see if her team was around. Feeling a little reluctant to leave she glanced back at him one more time before she left.

Itachi was sparring against his brother when he sensed her presence there in the crowd. Out of the corner of his eye he saw her as she was heading out toward the main road. He quickly focused his attention back on his brother, but it was too late. Sasuke had kicked him in the stomach and smirked at him while he did it. He quickly focused all of his attention back on his brother and continued sparring with him.

When they were finished he wiped off all of the sweat off of himself with a towel and looked over at his brother. "You did well today Sasuke," he said complimenting him.

"Hn, the only way I was able to land a hit on you was when you were distracted by Hinata," he told him with a smirk.

Not even bothering to reply to his brother's nonsense, he picked up his canteen of water and took a long drink.

Sasuke looked at his brother and wasn't fooled by his silence. "It wasn't hard to notice your interest in her, you looked over her way at least two times."

Not wanting to talk about it, Itachi began searching the area for his weapons and prepared to leave.

Shrugging slightly, Sasuke began to pick up his things also. However, he felt he should warn his brother about her, in case he did become too involved with her. "She likes Naruto, she has since the time we were all at the academy together."

Itachi remained silent for a moment before answering his brother in a disinterested manner. "It's just as well, I don't have time for anything like that now that I am back in ANBU again."

Itachi walked with his brother for a while until he came upon his brother's team mates. Sasuke had been reinstated as a member of Team Seven again. He wasn't too happy about it, but after his probation period was over he would be allowed to join ANBU Black-Ops and work with his brother.

"See you later," Itachi told his brother as he headed toward town to get some lunch.

He had only walked a short distance when he sensed her chakra again. Looking down the hill he saw she was sitting under a tree by the lake eating lunch by herself. He decided to go talk to her and at least thank her for sending him dinner a few times while he was being interrogated. Kakashi had never told him who it was from, but he knew all along that it came from her.

Hinata was eating lunch and staring out over at some ducks on the lake when she noticed someone in the distance was walking her way. When she looked up and saw who it was, she was shocked. Itachi was coming to see her! She almost began to hyperventilate as she had no idea what to say to him. She quickly took a deep breath and tried to pull herself together. After hastily wiping her mouth off, she hoped she didn't have any food on her face.

Glancing over in his direction she like how the sun was glinting off of his dark hair. His pale skin was beginning to take on a slight tan and he had gained some of the weight he had lost from his illness. She thought he looked amazing. Realizing she had been staring at him too long, she quickly turned away from him so he wouldn't catch her doing it.

When he got closer to her she greeted him nervously. "Hello Itachi-san." While she greeted him she tried with every ounce of will power in her body to stop the blush that was creeping up her neck onto her cheeks, but with little success. She quickly looked down at the ground when he looked over at her.

"Hello Hinata-san, do you mind if I join you?" He asked her politely.

Feeling very uncomfortable, she gestured for him to take a seat on the ground near her. Itachi looked over at her and noticed how nervous she was acting. _I wonder if it is just me or is she nervous around everyone, h_e thought as he looked over at her.

They sat there together in awkward silence for a few short moments before she gained some of her composure back.

"Um, Itachi-san, I brought extra food for lunch if you would like some," she asked him as she reached into her back pack and pulled out another bento box.

"That sounds good, thank you," He replied with equal politeness as he took the bento box from her.

They ate in silence for a while before Hinata poured him some tea in to an extra cup she brought.

He thanked her before looking over at her. "Hinata-san, I wanted to thank you for bringing me dinner while I was over at ANBU."

Hinata blushed. "I-it was no problem," she replied with a slight stutter.

"Why did you send them to me?"

Feeling slightly awkward at having to explain her actions Hinata took a shallow little breath before admitting to him, "Well, I guess, I sort of feel responsible for your being brought back to Konoha. I was the one who spotted you and your brother while you were fighting, so I felt I needed to help you."

He looked away from her before replying to her in a hollow voice.

"I never planned on living, I was angry at first when I found out I was still alive and back in Konoha. I had been sick for so long and was slowly going blind. My plan was to fight my brother and pass along my jutsu to him and allow him to kill me," he confessed quietly as though it was cathartic for him to do so.

Hinata's eyes opened wide when she thought about what he went through. _Oh Itachi,_ she thought sadly.

Itachi looked over at her. "I couldn't believe it when I woke up in the hospital with my health and vision restored to me," he said tonelessly as he looked out across the lake. "It was almost as if I was being given a second chance."

Unable to stop herself Hinata began to cry. His life was just so tragic and sad.

Itachi looked over at her and thought, s_he is compassionate and kind_. He tried to remember the last time someone had cried for him and could think of no one else except for his mother. He sat there and watched her as she tried to hide her face from him in embarrassment.

Something about her touched him like no one else. He tried to console her. "I am honored that you would cry for me," he said stiffly as he patted her awkwardly on the shoulder.

Hinata reached into her back pack and pulled out a napkin and wiped away her tears and turned away from him to blow her nose.

Itachi looked away amused by her. The more time he spent with her the more he found he liked just about everything about her. Reaching over he put his hand gently under her chin and forced her to look back at him.

"Thank you Hinata-san, no one has cried for me since my mother," he told her and she almost lost it again, but valiantly pulled herself together to give him a weak smile.

"I am glad you didn't die," she said to him softly.

His dark eyes searched hers for a few moments before he responded, "So am I."

Hinata looked away first and another awkward moment dragged between them. They both stared out toward the lake and occasionally one of them would glance at the other. Soon they began to relax and the silence between them was almost comfortable again.

Hinata looked over at him and took a fortifying breath. "Um Itachi, I come over here some times after training to have lunch. My team mates never showed up today so I trained by myself. I-I would like it if you would join me again sometime. I always bring extra food with me," she asked him hopefully with her fingers crossed behind her back.

He was about to respond when Naruto appeared above them on the top of the the hill and was waving down at them. Itachi looked up at him and a flash of annoyance crossed his face before he covered it up. _ I might as well leave, so she can be with the one she really likes_.

He looked over at Hinata who was staring up at Naruto with almost a confused look on her face. Hinata turned her attention back to Itachi who was beginning to stand up.

"Where are you going?" She asked him a little anxiously, not wanting him to leave.

"I have to go, thank you for lunch," Itachi told her calmly with a proper bow before he disappeared into a swirl of leaves.

Hinata closed her eyes in confusion as she watched the leaves swirl around where he was standing just a moment before. His being here with her almost seemed like it didn't happen except for the empty bento box proved to her that it did. She put the chopsticks he used inside of it and put the lid back on and placed it in her back pack.

Naruto appeared energetically in front of her and flopped down on the ground where Itachi had been only moments before.

"Hi Hinata, how's it going?" Naruto said loudly to her.

Hinata looked at him with almost a frown on her face. He was all alone with her and her heart wasn't racing and she almost felt a little irritated by him. Her eyes looked straight into his bright blue eyes and she didn't even blush. It was strange and a little sad for her to realize, but she didn't feel love for him any longer, instead her feeling felt more like friendship.

"Um, Naruto, I'm sorry. I have to go," she said in a slightly dazed voice, before she put the rest of her stuff in her bag and started walking up the hill.

"Hey Hinata, wait up. I will walk with you," he yelled to her as he got up to follow her.

She stopped and waited patiently while he caught up to her.

"What's your hurry?" He asked her.

She couldn't tell him the real reason which was she wanted to be alone to sort out her thoughts. "Um, I need to go home to do some chores," Hinata lied to him before running off in the direction of her house.

Feeling confused by her actions, Naruto watched her run off for a few moments before he turned his thoughts to going over to Ichiraku's and inhaling several bowls of ramen. He began to run quickly toward the shop.

Hinata went home and stripped off her clothes and plopped down on her bed to take a nap. She was confused at how she could so easily stop caring for Naruto and fall so hard for Itachi. After spending time with him today and hearing what he went through she no longer had any doubts that she was interested in him, possibly even liked him.

She closed her eyes and relaxed and waited to fall asleep knowing that she would dream about him like she always did. She was surprised later when someone was shaking her. She opened her eyes and looked into her sister's eyes. Her sister was looking at her with amusement in her eyes.

"Hinata that must have been some dream you were having. I couldn't get you to wake up. Were you dreaming about a cute guy or something?' She teased her.

Hinata blushed a fiery red and began to get out of the bed. Hanabi eyes opened wide when saw her sister in her bra and panties.

"Whoa, you are hot. Why do you cover yourself up all the time?" Hanabi asked her confused.

Hinata blushed even more at her sister's praise of her.

"You don't think I am too fat?" She asked her sister timidly.

Hanabi shook her head emphatically as she looked at her again.

"No way, I hope when I grow up I want to have a body just like yours," she told her sister frankly.

Hinata smiled gratefully at her little sister. "Thanks Hanabi, tell father I will be down for dinner shortly."

* * *

Hinata knocked on the door of her father's study. He had told her after dinner he had wanted to see her because he had something he wanted to discuss with her. She opened the door timidly when he told her to enter. After walking inside the office, she stopped just before his desk and bowed gracefully.

"Father, you wanted to see me?" She asked him in a respectful tone of voice with her head still down.

Hiashi looked over at his eldest daughter and couldn't help seeing a lot of his deceased wife in her. Hinata was growing up to be a lovely young woman. He had already received several offers of marriage for her.

"You may sit down."

She took a seat and looked up and waited for him to speak. He looked her firmly in her eyes before he spoke.

"As you know your eighteenth birthday will be coming up in a few months. I have received several offers of marriage for your hand. I have declined a most of them because they were from unsuitable men," he told her gravely.

"Father, I am not ready to be married yet. I want to make jonin still and serve Konoha," she told him nervously. She was beginning to feel uneasy about the plans he was making for her future.

Hiashi looked at her harshly as he reminded her, "Our clan comes before your duty to Konoha."

Feeling numb, she looked down at her hands before answering him in a resigned voice, "Yes father, I understand."

Her father's face softened slightly as he looked at her, in his mind he thought he was doing what was best for her.

"I have decided to make your sister heir instead of you. You are not suitable to lead the clan. I will give you time to decide between these suitors who you would find to be acceptable, then you will marry one of them on your eighteenth birthday," he said and considered himself to be a generous father because he was allowing her a choice in the matter.

Hinata sat there in shock as she stared at him.

"Hinata, I know about your feelings for Uzumaki Naruto and I will tell you right now, I will not allow you to marry him," he told her absolutely.

Hinata gathered up her courage. "Father, I do not want to marry Naruto, there is someone else," she said softly, her voice was only a little bit shaky.

"Who is he?" He asked her in a deceptively calm voice.

Hinata looked bravely into her father's hard eyes and spoke his name:

"Uchiha Itachi."

**Author's Note**: Thanks for reading. I am in the process of revising this story, 3/23/13


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

* * *

Hiashi Hyuuga looked over at his daughter with narrowed eyes after she mentioned the name of the man she wanted to marry. He thought back and remembered years ago when Hinata was very young this would have been a very exceptional match for her. The thought of joining the two clans and bloodlines together had filled him with excitement long ago. But the Uchiha clan had been wiped out before those plans could ever come to fruition, by the very man his daughter wanted to marry.

He looked over at his daughter with hard eyes. "I will not allow it. I realize he has been pardoned by the Hokage and was once the heir to the Uchiha clan. I cannot accept such a person into our clan. You will have to choose from one of these men." He handed her a large envelope with information and letters from several men of good families.

Having no other choice, she took the envelope and ran into her bedroom. After tossing it on her bed she put on her shoes and ran out of the house. She was still wearing her fancy white kimono with lavender flowers on the borders that she wore to dinner. It was not meant to run in, so she loosened the belt slightly and hiked it up so she could run easier in it. Running through town she headed out toward the woods and she was so upset she didn't even realize where she was going to until she spotted the river. She made her way down to the river's edge and tried to get her emotions under control.

* * *

Itachi had just finished having dinner with his brother and they were drinking sodas outside at a table when he saw her run past him. He could tell by the way she ran she was upset and he didn't like the direction she was going in considering it would be growing dark soon.

He got up to go follow her, but Sasuke put his hand on his arm and shot him a knowing smirk. "I thought you decided you were too busy to get involved with her?"

Itachi glared at his brother before he followed her into the woods.

It only took him a few minutes before he found her and he stood in a tree silently watching her wash her face in the river. He was angry at her for stupidly running out dressed in a kimono of all things in the woods. He let his eyes wander over her and liked what he saw, she was beautiful in his sight.

But she was not for him, her father would never accept a man with a past like his to become her husband.

His eyes grew hard as he decided he had better walk her home.

* * *

Hinata lifted eyes that were blurry from crying and couldn't help but notice the feelings of deja vu that hit her as she looked around at her surroundings. The situation she was now in was earily like her dream. She bent down and cupped her hands to rinse her face off with water from the river. Activating her Byakugan, she scanned around and noticed no one was standing behind her. She almost laughed out loud at how paranoid she was being as she rinsed her face off and dried it with the sleeve of her kimono. She stood up and turned around and gasped when she saw his dark clothing. Her glance went higher until it met his hard onyx eyes.

"Oh," she said in surprise and felt like pinching herself because it seemed so surreal.

"Why are you out here alone?" He asked her just like he did in the dream. Shocked, Hinata could only stare back at him like an idiot. "Um, I needed to be by myself," she replied nervously when she was able to speak to him.

He gave her a long searching look before he said, "I will walk you home," and without even waiting for her answer he turned and began walking back toward the village.

Hinata watched him walk away from her. She wondered what she needed to do next, did she need to take some sort of action or should she follow him and let the dream take its natural course.

As she watched him get further away from her something within her broke and she ran forward and yelled, "Itachi wait."

He stopped and turned around and looked at her with a questioning look in his eyes. Hinata gathered her courage and walked up to him and put her hands on his face and slowly pulled him down toward her as she stood on her tip-pee toes. His eyes darkened slightly as he saw her waiting for him to kiss her. Complying with her unspoken wish he put his hands on her shoulders and lowered his mouth onto hers.

Hinata closed her eyes a little in surprise as she felt his mouth touch hers. He brushed his lips softly over hers at first, just tasting them before he gradually deepened the kiss and applied more pressure. Instinctively she wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him closer to her. Reaching behind the nape of her neck, his hands began to thread themselves around the long strands of her hair while his mouth began to delve deeper into hers. A splash in the river brought him back to his senses and he broke away from her.

As though just waking up from sleeping, Hinata's eyes opened slowly and she looked up at him with a dreamy, but mystified expression in her eyes as she thought about what just happened between them.

Itachi looked down at her, "Hinata, why did you just do that?"

Hinata pulled herself out of his arms and turned away from him. "Y-you wouldn't believe me if I told you," she mumbled uncomfortably and put a few steps of distance between them.

"Try me," he said firmly as he stepped closer to her.

Not sure of how she was going to respond to him, she turned around and looked at him timidly before taking a deep breath. After she released it, she asked him very quietly, "Um, after you walked me home...you weren't going to kiss me, were you?"

He looked at her with eyes that were a little wary and confused. "I didn't plan on it," he told her bluntly.

Hinata put her face in her hands trying to hide her embarrassment.

"Why did you think I would?" He asked her in a more gentle tone as he placed his hand on her shoulder.

She lifted her head out of her hands and said with quiet dignity, "Because that's what happened in my dream," she began to walk quickly away from him back toward the village.

He watched her walk away for a while before he came to a decision. He began to run after her and as soon as he caught up to her he put his hand around hers.

"Was this the same dream you had while you were at the hospital with me?" He asked her curiously, something within him really wanted to know what she had been dreaming about that day.

Hinata blushed and nodded her head before looking away embarrassed and felt she had made a fool out of herself enough in front of him and it was time to go. Maybe now that she took some action, her dreams about him would change and she could move forward with her life now.

With a small sigh, she turned to leave him. "Well, I am sorry I bothered you..." she began to say when he tightened his grip around her hand and refused to release it and told her.

"I will walk you home."

A slight blush tinged her cheeks as she looked at their still hands joined together and nodded shyly before looking straight ahead of her as she tried to keep her face neutral and composed.

They were almost half of the way back to the Hyuga compound he asked her, "Tell me about your dream Hinata...from the beginning."

She stared at him and bit back a small smile before she decided to trust him and told him everything, including her first dream she had of him and his brother fighting and how she found them.

It was already dark when they were just outside the Hyuuga compound. Itachi stopped and his eyes looked steadily at her for a long moment before he bowed. "Good night, Hinata."

She gave him a smile that threatened to take his breath away before she also bowed and said in a shy voice, "Good night, Itachi."

**Author's Note:** 3/31/12. I edited this chapter and made some changes, I had always thought I had rushed their relationship too quickly. Thanks for reading.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

* * *

On the way to practice, Hinata's mood was somewhat subdued, yet there was something different about her in the way she carried herself. Yesterday, she had faced her dream head on and even though it had been embarrassing for her, she did it and now she felt she had grown closer to him because of it. She had begun to realize that sometimes it was worth it to take risks when you cared about someone.

She walked by the training area next to hers and saw he was training there again with his brother. Just like the last time she saw him she noticed a couple dozen people were standing around watching them. She looked over the crowd and noticed that over half of them were girls and Itachi and Sasuke were once again training without their shirts on. Moving closer to the edge of the crowd she stood there and watched them for a few minutes and couldn't help but be impressed with the level of their taijutsu skills. They both had their Sharingan's activated and she could tell they could each anticipate the other's moves easily. Itachi appeared to be more defensive in his stance than Sasuke who was more on the offense and took more risks.

Hinata went to leave and was thinking, _I should go, he probably doesn't even know I am here anyway._

As she was walking away she heard him go, "Oomph," as his brother's foot connected with his stomach and sent him sprawling on his butt. She glanced back and saw he was already on his feet again and was attacking his brother. Hinata smiled in his direction and was glad that he was okay and continued walking towards her training area oblivious to the fact that she was the one who caused him to get kicked in the first place.

Sasuke looked over at his brother and smirked. "Hn, It looks like something or should I say _someone _made you lose your focus again?" He teased his brother before attacking him again.

"Shut up," Itachi told him before he landed a kick on his brother's leg that sent him back a few steps. Sasuke just looked at him and gave him a knowing grin. "She can come around anytime, it is the only time I can get past your guard."

Itachi just ignored him and did a back-flip in the air and threw a kunai at him. Sasuke blocked it and threw a couple more back at him.

* * *

Kiba and Shino were already working out at the training ground when she arrived there.

Kiba looked up from the jutsu he was performing and gave her a brief greeting. "Hi Hinata."

"Good Morning Kiba," she responded with a soft smile.

Kiba looked over at Akamaru and communicated. "I wonder what's gotten into her, she seems different."

Akamaru barked in agreement.

Shino regarded Hinata with sharp eyes over his dark glasses. "There does seem to be something unusual about her today," he said agreeing with his team-mate. They decided to talk to her about it later.

During training Hinata was uncharacteristically sharp and focused and seemed to be bursting with confidence.

Kiba and Shino shared a look and wondered what had gotten into their shy team-mate. Near the end of practice Kiba asked her, "Hinata, you seem different today, is it because something good has finally happened with Naruto?"

She looked away, her face was carefully neutral. "No Kiba, it isn't," she said as she picked up a kunai and jumped up into the trees, effectively ending the conversation.

She stood on the tree trunk and activated her Byakugan and dodged the combined attack of Kiba and Akamaru. She smiled secretly to herself and felt more successful than she had in a long time.

After practice Kiba and Shino shared an anxious glance, they could tell something was going on with their team-mate and they wanted to get to the bottom of it.

"Hinata, do you want to each lunch with us today?" Shino asked her.

She blushed. "I'm sorry I am already meeting someone for lunch today, maybe tomorrow," she told him apologetically.

"Hinata, who are you meeting for lunch?" Kiba asked with concerned eyes while Shino stood beside him.

Hinata frowned slightly debating with herself internally whether she should tell them who she was meeting. She decided they would probably find out soon enough and she might as well tell them and ask them to keep it confidential.

"I am having lunch with Itachi Uchiha," she confessed in a quiet voice.

Kiba and Shino looked at her alarmed.

"Are you sure that is a wise thing, Hinata?" Shino asked her seriously.

Hinata looked over at both of them and tried her best to calm their fears. "We are just friends. I got to know him a little when I was guarding him while he was in the hospital," she said before looking at them with slightly pleading eyes. "Can you please keep my friendship with him to yourselves. I don't want my father to find out."

Kiba looked at her speculatively. _It seems like she likes him for more than just a friend_. His eyes softened when he looked at his team-mate. He cared a great deal for her and would probably kill anyone who harmed her.

"Hinata, just be careful, after all, he was a member of Akatsuki for years. I don't want to see you get hurt," he told her with worried eyes. Shino looked at her with the same eyes.

She looked over at both of them and felt like hugging them, they were like brothers to her. "I promise I will be careful. Thank you," she told them sincerely. She walked over and picked up her pack from the ground. "I will see you both tomorrow," she said to them before racing off toward the lake.

* * *

When she arrived there she was surprised he was already waiting for her, even though they had never officially made any plans. Hinata had just been hoping she would meet him today. Her eyes travelled over in his direction and saw he was sitting on the ground leaned up against the tree with his eyes closed. She stared at him for a few moments taking in his long dark hair and the elegant lines of his face and mouth. Nearby on the lake one of the ducks began to splash drawing her attention away from Itachi. When she looked back at him he was staring at her with a small smile on his face.

"Hello," he said to her in a slightly sleepy voice.

Hinata smiled back shyly at him and sat down a little bit away from him and tried to pull her nerves together. She wasn't quite sure how to act around him today.

She looked over at him and blushed before reaching into her back pack and handing him a bento box and some chopsticks.

"Thank you," he told her politely. He had leased an apartment right next door to his brother and had been eating out at restaurants a lot. It was nice to eat a home cooked meal for a change. Inside the box was some steamed vegetables, rice and curried chicken. She had also tucked in a large egg roll for him.

Out of the corner of her vision she watched him while he ate. "Um, do you like it? I-I made it this morning," she asked timidly.

He looked over at her with his mouth full and chopsticks mid-air. "Yes, it is very good," he told her after he swallowed.

She smiled happily and began eating her food. Her mouth began to grow dry so she poured herself some tea and one for him.

"Thank you," he said her as he took it from her. After he was done eating he leaned against the tree and closed his eyes. He felt so relaxed in her presence, it was just so calming to him. He reached over for her hand. Hinata blushed as she felt him casually wrap his hand around hers and rub his thumb against her palm. She moved over by him and leaned up against the tree next to him and closed her eyes. They sat there for a while just enjoying the slight breeze that flowed over them and each other's company. Hinata marveled at how comfortable she was starting to feel around him. She liked how he was quiet like her and didn't feel the need to talk all the time.

"Hinata." Itachi leaned over some time later and whispered in her ear. She woke up startled and stared straight into his dark eyes. "Oh, I'm sorry," she apologized embarrassed that she fell asleep.

"I didn't get much sleep last night," she admitted to him.

He leaned closer to her and asked, "Did you have the dream last night or did it stop?"

She looked at him and frowned because she hadn't thought of the dream all day. "Um...I don't remember dreaming last night, so they must have stopped," she told him and almost felt a little saddened by the loss. "The dreams that I had before were so vivid and real, I could remember every detail of them," she admitted and her cheeks grew warm when she saw he was watching her with a small smile quirking his lips.

"Is that why you kept staring at me in the hospital?" He asked her bluntly. She gave an embarrassed laugh and hid her face in her hands. "Yes," she squeaked out.

He put his hand on her arm and leaned closer to her and tried to distract her from being embarrassed. "Hinata, I need to go soon. I have to get some rest and prepare for a mission tonight," he told her.

She looked back at him and was sad their time together had to end so soon. "Okay, I need to go talk to the Hokage anyway," she told him in a subdued voice and turned to put everything away in her back pack.

He watched for a few moments and wondered what she needed to talk to the Hokage about. "Hinata, why were you so upset last night before I saw you?" He asked her with a hint of concern in his eyes.

She went still for a moment. _Oh no_, she thought worriedly and was definitely not ready to tell him she had to get married in a few months. She forced herself to calm down and look at him and evaded the issue. "L-last night after dinner my father told me he no longer wants me to be his heir. He thinks I am too weak and wants to put my younger sister in my place," she shared with him in a slightly unsteady voice. She couldn't stop a solitary tear from running down her cheek as her father's actions toward her still stung a lot. She brushed it away frustrated at her weakness and turned away from him.

He put his hand on her shoulder and asked her, "Do you want to be clan leader that badly?"

She shook her head slightly and said, "No..." She sniffled a little before answering. "I did for a long time, but I think I mainly wanted my father to acknowledge me. It just hurts that...he doesn't have any faith in me," Hinata said quietly while desperately trying to stop the flood of emotions that were about to errupt.

Itachi pulled her against and him and held her tightly while she buried her face in his chest and began to cry a flood of tears. He stroked her hair and waited patiently for her to stop. When she finally stopped she touched his shirt and saw she had made the front of it all wet. She sniffled and looked up at him with puffy eyes. "I'm sorry about your shirt," she apologized to him.

He reached down and pulled out a napkin out of her back pack and handed it to her. "It will dry," he said shrugging his shoulders.

She looked away from him and blew her nose. _Oh, why do I always have to embarrass myself in front of him,_ she thought in frustration.

He pulled her towards him and put his hands on either side of her face. "Do you feel better Hinata?"

She looked back at him and nodded her head, because she didn't trust her voice.

"Come on, let's go back now," he said as he picked up her back pack and carried it for her and placed his pack competently over his other shoulder.

As they were heading back to the village she walked quietly beside him and wasn't paying attention where they were going until they ended up at his apartment. She looked over at him in surprise when he pulled out his key and opened the door.

"I thought you might want to clean up a little before you go see the Hokage," he told her passively as he opened the door.

As she entered his apartment and glanced around her, she wasn't surprised that it was very neat and tidy. She didn't picture someone with his personality to be the messy type. It was a fairly large apartment, but very sparsely furnished and he only had a table with four chairs around it and a couch in the living room.

He noticed her looking around and shrugged his shoulders in explanation. "I haven't had much time to buy anything."

He pointed to a room down the hallway. "The bathroom is in there."

She blushed feeling a bit shy at being alone with him in his apartment. She walked in the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror and was grateful he had them stop here before she went to go see the Hokage. Her hair was a mess from training earlier and her nose was all red and her eyes were puffy from crying.

She found a comb and snooped around a little by removing the lid and smelling his hair gel. She smiled to herself as she put a little in her hair and thought, _he really does have great looking hair. _ Next she took some cold water and found a wash cloth and cleaned her face. She didn't think it would be polite to use his toothbrush, so she settled for rinsing her mouth out with some mouthwash.

After she came out she felt much better. "Thank you for letting me get cleaned up," she told him gratefully.

"You're welcome," she heard his voice say near her ear and she nearly jumped out of her skin to see him standing so close to her. She could have sworn when she came out of the bathroom he was clear across the room.

"When can I see you again?" He asked her quietly and somehow had moved even closer to her. He was so close to her the scent of his skin was beginning to make her pulse race. After swallowing nervously, she met his eyes and was taken aback at how serious they were.

"W-when will you be back from your mission?" She stammered slightly and tried her best to remain calm.

He thought for a moment before gently reaching out and began slowly rubbing his hand over her back. "By tomorrow afternoon, at the latest."

Hinata was having trouble thinking while his hand was touching her back. She made a supreme effort to concentrate while the rest of her was slowly melting into mush. "Um, I could bring you dinner here tomorrow in the evening, if you would like."

He smiled before answering. "Or I could take you out to dinner," he offered and his warm eyes stared straight into hers.

She turned away from him slightly. "N-No, I would rather not," she mumbled suddenly afraid of what would happen if someone saw them together and reported it to her father.

Itachi's sharp eyes looked at her closely. "Is there some reason why not?"

She turned her back to him and sighed. "I... can't tell you," she admitted to him on the verge of tears again. "I-I'm sorry Itachi, I have to go," she said quickly as she scooped up her backpack and ran out the door. Itachi stared at the open door for a long moment before he walked over and closed the door.

* * *

Hinata knocked on the door of the Hokage's office.

Shizune opened the door. "Yes, Hinata."

She asked curiously at her unscheduled visit. Hinata looked up at her with her chin raised at a determined angle. "Is the the Hokage available. I need to speak to her about a personal matter."

Shizune nodded and closed the door and turned to the Hokage. "Hinata is here to see you, she says it is regarding a personal matter," she relayed to her boss.

The Hokage's interest was fully engaged, because Hinata never visited her for personal matters. "Let her in and give us some privacy for a few moments," she told her assistant firmly.

Shizune was disappointed, she had been hoping to hear something interesting. Her expression was a little glum as she opened the door. "She can see you now," she told Hinata before leaving the room.

Hinata took a deep breath and entered the room and after closing the door behind her she took a seat across from the Hokage.

"Hello Hinata, what brings you here?" Tsunade asked her curiously.

Hinata released a small breath. "Thank you for seeing me on such short notice, Lady Hokage," Hinata said respectfully.

The Hokage looked at Hinata and could tell she had been crying. "Hinata what's wrong?" She asked the young ninja kindly.

"My father is forcing me to get married in a few months when I turn eighteen. I am no longer his heir and he told me I have to get married to one of the men he chose for me," she stated and couldn't keep the anguish and bitterness out of her voice.

Tsunade looked at her unhappy face and became angry. "How dare he, that is just archaic!"

Hinata looked encouraged by her response and hoped the Hokage would be able to help her. "Lady Hokage, I would like to leave my clan and become emancipated from my father," she announced firmly. "I don't want him to be able to control my life...any longer."

The Hokage stared into space trying to determine the law. When she couldn't remember the exact details she opened the door and looked for Shizune.

Her assistant almost fell inside the office because she had her ear against the door. Tsunade rolled her eyes. "So, it appears you have heard what is going on, what are our options?"

Shizune blushed a little at being caught and then shook it off. "Well..." she said as she looked at Hinata. "Does he beat you?"

Hinata took an emotional breath and then shook her head. "No, he doesn't."

Shizune looked around in thought. "Well, there is a provision where you can divorce your parents as a ninja, but the conditions are not right, since we are not at war," she said almost joking with her and then her expression became serious as she looked at her. "Since you are still a minor he does have the authority as a clan leader to force you to marry who he chooses for you. After you turn eighteen he can no longer do so. The only way I can think of since you are not being abused, is to elope with someone... or you can run away and hide until you turn eighteen," she told her somewhat apologetically.

Hinata blushed and thought there was no way those solutions could fix her problem. _We are not even really dating so, there is no way I am going to tell him I need to marry him. Besides, after I ran off like that he probably doesn't want to see me anymore, _she thought despondently.

The Hokage watched Hinata's face and could almost see her mind working. She looked at Hinata shrewdly. "Hinata, is there someone else you want to marry?"

Hinata's face turned red before she nodded reluctantly. "Yes Lady Hokage, I want to marry Uchiha Itachi," she admitted softly.

Tsunade thought for a moment she was going to say Naruto, then she smirked. "It seems my little bit of matchmaking has paid off," she told Hinata with a grin.

Hinata looked at her with wide open eyes. "So... that is why you had me guard him," she exclaimed in a slightly shocked voice.

The Hokage laughed. "Um yes, among other reasons, I knew that I could trust you to protect him implicitly, because you felt responsible for him being brought to the village in the first place."

Hinata almost laughed as she thought about the situation. "I can't ask him to marry me yet, we barely know each other. If I move out on my own could you protect me from my father if he tries to force me to return to the clan?" She asked the Hokage.

Tsunade shook her head. "I'm sorry, if he wants you to move back, then I cannot stop him under the law. However, I will keep looking into it to see if there is a loophole somewhere. I will do all that I can to help you Hinata," Tsunade told her kindly.

"Thank you Ma'am, at least I have a few months before he will be able to force me to marry someone," she said gratefully. She stood up and bowed respectfully before leaving the office.

When she opened the door and stepped out in the hallway she saw an ANBU member leaning against the wall with a weasel mask over his face and was wearing full armor. She went to step past him when he put his hand over her mouth and pulled her into an empty office and shut the door with his foot. She looked over at him alarmed and was ready to activate her Byakugan and fight before he removed his mask.

_Itachi._

"You didn't give me a chance to say goodbye to you," he told her just before he lowered his head and kissed her. Hinata wrapped her arms around him in joy and melted against him.

**Author's Note**: I made a lot of changes to this chapter, thanks for reading. 3/31/12


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Itachi was on his way home from his mission. He looked over at one of his subordinates and smirked. It was the ANBU member who attacked him while he was in the hospital. He didn't see his face at the time, but he recognized him by his chakra. He never said anything to him that he knew it was him who attacked him, Itachi liked to keep him guessing about when he was going to do something about it. It was more interesting that way.

Still, Itachi had cause to be grateful for him. Because of his attack on him, Hinata was assigned to watch over him while he was in the hospital.

It was early in the afternoon when Itachi returned home. It had been raining all night and he could feel a cold coming on. He turned in his mission report and checked in at ANBU Headquarters. By the time he got home he was exhausted and his body was beginning to feel achy and heavy like he was wearing weights in his armor. He opened the door to his apartment and went straight to his room and flopped down on the bed still in his ANBU gear. He was out cold a few moments later.

* * *

A couple of hours later Hinata knocked on his door. She was carrying a bag that contained dinner for them. She had told her father she was bringing food to a friend's house tonight and would be home later in the evening and was surprised when her father didn't force her to tell him the friend's name.

She waited a few minutes for him to answer the door and when he didn't; she set the bag down on the ground. knocking on the door again she put her ear to the door and listened closely. When she didn't hear any noise coming from within the apartment a nagging doubt began to form in her mind. _What if he doesn't want to see me anymore. _Shaking her head adamantly, she quickly rejected that horrible thought and remembered how passionately he kissed her last night at the Hokage's office building.

Activating her Byakugan, she looked inside his apartment and was relieved when could see he was sleeping on his bed in his room. _Oh, poor thing, he is probably exhausted, s_he thought to herself. She decided to drop off the food and come over to see him another time. Turning the door handle slowly, she was surprised that it was not locked.

With a frown beginning to crease her brow, she set the bag on the table and began walking down the hallway toward his bedroom to check on him. She was concerned that he hadn't woken up already considering how sharp his senses usually were. After walking to the end of the hallway she timidly peeked inside of his room. She could see he was laying in the middle of his bed and was still wearing his ANBU uniform and hadn't even bothered to undress from it.

Something in the way he was sleeping so soundly didn't seem right to her, so she took a few more steps into his room and put her hand on his forehead. Her eyes grew clouded with worry when she found his skin was hot to the touch and his face was flushed with fever. He was also starting to shiver.

Looking around his room anxiously, she went into his bathroom and found a wash cloth and ran it under cold water and wrung it out. Then she walked back into his room and wiped his brow. Her eyes next settled on his ANBU uniform and decided it need to come off. She blushed and activated her Byakugan and after searching for a moment she saw his brother was in his apartment. Running out of the apartment, she went over and knocked on Sasuke's door.

Sasuke opened the door and looked Hinata with curious eyes. His eyes swept over her dressed in a skirt quickly and he began to understand why his brother liked her so much.

She looked up at him with a worried expression on her face. "Sasuke-san, you need to come over to your brother's apartment. I think he is really sick," she blurted out to him before running back over to Itachi's apartment. Sasuke quickly followed her and went straight into his brother's room.

He leaned over and felt Itachi's forehead, it was burning up. He looked over at Hinata who was staring at his brother with concern written all over her face.

"Do you have anything at your place for the fever?" Hinata asked him. "I checked his medicine cabinet and it was practically empty."

Sasuke thought for minute. "No, I don't think that I do. I am going to strip these clothes off of him and then run and get Sakura. I will have her bring something with her," he told her as he began to remove Itachi's gear.

Hinata began to blush at the thought of a naked Itachi and turned toward the door. "Um alright, I am going to run to the store and buy the ingredients to make some chicken soup. I will be right back," she said before leaving the room.

Sasuke watched her long dark hair float behind her and her hips sway as she left the room and turned to his brother. "You are one lucky bastard," he told him as he smirked down at him.

Hinata looked around his kitchen to see what he needed. She opened the cupboards and saw they were all empty. _What does he do for food_? She wondered. _He must eat out all the time,_ she thought feeling sorry for him. When she opened his fridge she found a few things in there. He had a couple cans of beer and soda and a take-out box of leftovers. She rolled her eyes and began to look around for some paper to make a list. After opening a few drawers she found paper and a pen and began making a grocery list.

Hinata was gone for about an hour and when she came back she was carrying two heavy bags full of food and other items for his kitchen. She had bought him a large pot and some wooden spoons. A cutting board, knife, bowls and some utensils. She put everything away and then began working on the soup.

Sasuke was in his brother's room with Sakura and Ino. He didn't want to bring Ino along but she claimed to be Itachi's friend and demanded to see him. She was sitting on his bed and holding his hand. He looked over at her and his brother with amusement and wondered how Hinata was going to react to her being here.

Sakura snapped at her best friend, "Ino-pig get off the bed. I am working on him and you are getting in the way."

Ino glared at Sakura before reluctantly obeyed and went over and to stand by Sasuke as he watched his team-mate examine his brother.

Sasuke asked the blonde in a quiet voice. "So, how do you know my brother?"

Ino looked at Itachi and smiled knowingly. "The Hokage assigned me to watch over him one day while he was still in the hospital and I got to know him," she said implying that she knew him really well.

"_Hn," Sasuke responded. Yeah right, I bet you annoyed the hell out of him,_ he thought as he shot her a doubtful look.

Sakura looked up from her patient and turned toward Sasuke. "I gave him some medicine for his fever, make sure he takes some every four hours until it breaks. If you can; try to get him to drink plenty of fluids," she told him professionally.

Sasuke looked at her and nodded. "Thanks Sakura."

All semblance of professionalism vashined as she simpered. "Do you need me to stay and help?"

"No, I will be fine. Hinata and I will take care of him," he told her automatically.

Ino and Sakura gaped at him. "Hinata!" They screeched in unison.

Ino looked down at Itachi with possessive eyes as he lay naked from the waist up on the bed. "What is she doing here?" She demanded.

Itachi stirred on the bed and rolled on his side. He looked over at his brother with glazed eyes and croaked out. "They need to go now, Hinata can stay," he told him tiredly before closing his eyes and going back to sleep.

Sakura and Ino looked at each other in shock. Sasuke said in a dry voice, "You heard him, he wants you to leave and Hinata to stay."

Hinata was in the kitchen cooking when she heard Sakura and Ino's loud voices.

_What is Ino doing here, s_he wondered as she recognized the blonde ninja's voice. Then she remembered that Ino was her replacement when she took breaks from watching Itachi in the hospital. Jealousy began to creep into her mind. _She is so much prettier than I am and more confident. If she likes him then I don't stand a chance with him, s_he worried and began to feel a little depressed.

Hinata's head snapped up when Ino fumed down the hallway. Stopping just a few feet in front of Hinata in the kitchen, the blonde girl looked at Hinata and mentally compared herself to her and sneered. "What does he see in you," she said dismissively to Hinata before storming out the door.

Sakura looked over at Hinata and grinned happily. She was so thrilled to see Ino lose to another girl, especially a shy one like Hinata. Still chortling with glee she turned to Sasuke. "I will be back in the morning to check on him. Are you sure you don't want me to stay?" She asked him hopefully.

He looked at her with firm eyes. "No. Thank you for coming here, but we will be fine," he told her as he pushed her out the door and shut it decisively behind her.

Sasuke took a deep breath after she left and the apartment was quiet again. Being around those two wore his patience down.

Hinata looked over at him amused. She was so happy that they wanted her to stay and made Sakura and Ino leave. "Um, Sasuke. I have some dinner I brought over, if you are hungry," she offered and pointed to the containers in the bag and handed him a plate.

He took the plate from her gratefully and opened up the containers. "This looks good Hinata. Did you make it?"

She blushed. "I only made the hand-rolls, my family's cook made the rest," she confessed to him shyly.

He looked at her with a wry grin. "Itachi is the worst cook there is, and I am only slightly better. You can bring food over for us anytime," he told her after he took a bite of the delicious food.

She smiled and turned and stirred the chicken soup she was making.

After Sasuke was done eating he walked behind her and put his dishes in the sink and rinsed them off. He walked over to the soup and tasted it. "This is very good."

Hinata smiled. "Oh, thanks, I enjoy cooking," she told him quietly. Sasuke dished some up in a bowl and sat down to eat it.

"Hinata, Itachi told me you were the one who found us after we were done fighting," he said before pausing and closing his eyes. When he opened them after a few moments, his eyes were nearly black with emotion. "Thank you for saving my brother's life."

Hinata was choked up at seeing him so emotional about his brother and could only nod. Her eyes were suspiciously bright with unshed tears. Sasuke cleared his throat and schooled his features to look normal after a few awkward moments had passed.

Hinata decided to go check on Itachi. She walked in his room and placed her hand on his forehead. It was still hot, but was a little cooler. He seemed to be breathing easier too. She went to move her hand off his forehead when his hand grabbed her wrist.

Hinata gasped in surprise and kneeled by him. "Itachi, how are you feeling?" She asked him as she gently pushed his long hair out of his eyes.

"I'll live," he answered in a drained voice like it was too much energy for him to even talk.

"Itachi, are you thirsty?"

He nodded.

She put her arm behind his pillow and lifted him up and brought the glass up to his mouth and waited patiently for him to drink. She lowered him back down on the bed.

"Itachi, I made you some soup and Sasuke is going to stay with you tonight," she told him as she sat on the edge of the bed. She placed her hand against his face.

"I'm sorry," he said to her without opening his eyes.

"For what?"

"Our date," he whispered tiredly.

Hinata picked up his hand and kissed the back of it. "It's okay, we can do it another time. I will come back tomorrow and check on you." She leaned over him and kissed his forehead.

He smiled a little and went back to sleep.

Hinata went back out into the kitchen and put the soup and the left-overs from dinner into the fridge. She looked over at Sasuke who was resting on the couch. "I'm going to leave now. I was able to get him to drink some water. I will come back in the morning to check on him," she told him softly.

"Okay, thanks for dinner," he told her lazily before closing his eyes.

Hinata closed the door behind her with a smile. She couldn't believe how close those two were considering how less than a month ago they were trying to kill each other. She looked at the street lights and noticed they were starting to turn on. _I had better get home before my father finds out where I have been all evening,_ she thought as she quickened her pace towards home. Just before she approached the gate she stopped and activated her Byakugan. The whole time she had been running home she felt like someone was watching her. Her mouth became tight when she recognized the person's chakra.

**Author's Note**: 3/31/12, I did a lot of editing on this chapter, I hope it reads better. Thanks.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

* * *

Hinata saw her cousin in the tree behind her and called him out. "Neji, I can see you. Will you please come down?" Hinata waited a few minutes before he came up to her. "Why are you following me?" She asked him with a hurt look in her eyes.

Neji looked apologetically back at her. "I'm sorry Hinata, your father asked me to follow you and report back to him whose house you went to tonight," he told her flatly.

Hinata looked back at him with sad and betrayed eyes. "How could he do this to me?"

"Hinata, I am not going to tell him where you were at tonight. I will tell him you went to Tenten's house, I will make sure she backs me up if needed," he told her trying to calm her down.

She looked up at him surprised. "Why would you do this for me?" She asked him with disbelief in her voice.

Neji looked down at her and sighed. "Because he is being unfair to you. Since he has rejected you as heir, he should not be allowed to control what you do any longer," he told her in a hard, frustrated voice.

She looked up at him with eyes filled with unshed tears, "Thank you for standing up for me Neji, it means a lot to me," she said as she placed her hand on his arm.

Neji looked down at her with concern in his eyes. "Hinata, he was in Akatsuki for many years...are you sure about him?" He asked her worriedly.

Hinata looked up at him firmly. "Neji, I care about him a great deal and I think he likes me too. We just started going out and I am not sure what is going to happen between us. I just want to be able to choose who I marry and not be forced," she said with conviction.

Neji looked at her with approval and liked seeing her stand up for herself. _Maybe the Uchiha will be good for her after all,_ he thought to himself. "Hinata, I will support you no matter what you choose to do," he told her sincerely.

She looked at him and decided to trust him with her plans. "I plan to leave the clan just as soon as I turn eighteen and move out on my own, so he will no longer be able to control me," she told him almost in a whisper.

"I don't blame you Hinata, I am considering doing the same thing. However, I do not want to leave Hanabi to face him or the clan on her own," he told her with a frown.

She looked up at him. "I know what you mean, I feel the same way," she said and almost smiled at the thought of her sister. Hanabi would be just fine, because she was far more up to the task of dealing with her father than either of them were. Hanabi was a true Hyuuga in every sense of the word. Still, Hinata loved her little sister a lot and it saddened her to think about ever having to leave her.

He looked over toward the house, worried they were being watched. "We should get back. Why don't you go in first and I will follow you shortly," he said to her as he jumped back up into the trees.

Hinata ran to the gate and entered the house through the side door. She hurried into her bedroom and got ready for bed. After turning off the light, Hinata snuggled down under her covers and thought about Itachi. _I hope he is feeling better_. She would have given anything to have been able to stay with him and help him tonight. But, she was glad Sasuke was there to look after him.

A soft smile touched her lips as she she remembered how Sasuke thanked her for saving his brother's life. "You are not the only one who is thankful he is alive, Sasuke," she said out loud in a tired voice. A few minutes later she fell asleep.

* * *

The next morning Hinata woke up from having a dream and she had a huge smile on her face. "Oh Kami-sama, please let this one come true, exactly the way it was in my dream," she prayed in a whisper. She thought back and saw how her other dreams had come true. She would have to wait and see if she had it again tonight. "There is no way I am telling him about this one. not yet anyway," she told herself with a blush.

Hinata climbed out of bed and put some training clothes on before hurrying down to the family's dojo for training in her clan's jutsu. She saw her father and bowed to him respectfully. "Good morning father," she said softly.

He looked back at her with critical eyes. "Good morning," he greeted her abruptly. He looked at her some more and could tell something was going on with her.

Neji reported to him that she went to a girl-friend's house last night for dinner and came home by herself later in the evening. Activating his Byakugan he examined her closely and was relieved when he saw she was still a virgin. He was very glad for that or he would have a hard time finding someone suitable to marry her.

Hinata went off to the side and began training exercises and stretches. Hiashi looked over at Neji. "Why don't you train with Hinata this morning," he directed him and went over to work with Hanabi.

Neji whispered to his cousin. "Don't hold back Hinata-sama, come after me hard or you're going to get hurt. Show him how strong you have become," he told her trying to encourage her. She nodded with determination. "Okay, I will try my best," she told him before getting into her jyuken stance...

Hinata came away from practice with a hard earned smile on her face. She had several bruises forming and some chakra points blocked, but she felt she aquitted herself well and gave it her best.

"Thank you cousin," she whispered to him before they left the area. Neji looked back at her with grudging respect in his eyes. "You did well, Hinata."

Hinata smiled at him and walked a little stiffly into the house.

* * *

A few hours later, Hinata knocked on the door of his apartment. A short while later Sasuke opened it and let her in. She had brought some rolls and muffins over from her house and set them on the table. "How is he doing this morning Sasuke?"

Sasuke looked at her tiredly. "His fever broke sometime early in the morning and he has been waking up more often. Sakura is in with him now," he told her.

Hinata looked toward the hallway, debating internally whether she should go back there or not.

Sasuke looked at her amused, s_he is so shy,_ he walked over to the table and picked up a roll. "Hinata, you can go back there, he won't mind."

"Okay, I was just waiting for Sakura to leave," she told him quietly.

He smirked. "You and me both," he told her dryly before walking back to see what was taking Sakura so long.

When he looked in the room he saw Sakura's hands were glowing green and she appeared to be doing some sort of treatment on his chest. He waited until she was finished.

"Sasuke, I told the Hokage your brother was sick and she gave me some medicine for him. It is one of her own creations and it is really powerful. He should sleep a lot today, but he should be fully recovered within a day or two," she told him as she picked up her medical bag.

"Um, thanks Sakura. That was nice of you," he said in a slightly surprised voice.

She came over and stood very close to him, her eyes were no longer professional, but were flirtatious. "How about you take me out to lunch to thank me?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "I'm sorry Sakura, I am very tired. My gratitude will have to be enough for you," he told her firmly.

Sakura looked over at him and whined, "Why don't you like me Sasuke? I am always doing nice things for you and you never appreciate it."

"Hn, you always have an ulterior motive when you do something for me. You are selfish and irritating," he told her bluntly.

Sakura began to cry in an attempt to make him feel bad. "Oh Sasuke, I love you so much. I just want you to notice me."

Sasuke was about to respond harshly to her when Itachi spoke up in a weary voice. "Can you guys take your discussion somewhere else? I am trying to sleep."

Sakura looked at both of them because of their lack of sensitivity and ran from the room. Sasuke looked down at his brother and grinned. "Good timing brother, I was about to say something that she would have made me regret for a long time."

Itachi nodded slightly before closing his eyes tiredly.

Sasuke's eyed darted to the door she had just left through. "I better go talk to her, so she doesn't plan some sort of revenge against me," he said with a sigh, before he left he said, "Hinata is here to see you. I am going to go home for a while."

Itachi looked at him. "Thank you for helping me last night," he said quietly. Sasuke nodded. "I will come back later."

Sasuke came out and saw Hinata sitting at the table by herself. "Where did Sakura go?"

Hinata frowned slightly. "I don't know, she just ran out the front door."

Sasuke looked irritated that Sakura left. "I better go deal with her. Itachi is on some medicine that will make him tired, but he should recover within a day or two," he told her while on his way out the door.

Hinata smiled and immediately went to go check on Itachi.

* * *

Hinata stood at the doorway for a few moments and just watched him sleep. She loved looking at him and still couldn't believe that someone like him would be interested in her. In her mind, it was truly a miracle.

He moved slightly and it pulled her out of her thoughts. "Hinata, you may come in," he invited her tiredly. "Or you may stand there and continue to stare at me some more," he said with a straight face.

Hinata blushed a fiery red and groaned under her breath as she walked closer to the bed. "Are you feeling better today?" She asked him as she gently placed her hand on his face.

He didn't open his eyes while answering, "yes."

Seeing how tired he was Hinata thought she should probably leave so he could rest, she moved to leave but stopped when she felt his hand move around hers.

"Stay with me?" He asked her unexpectedly.

Hinata looked surprised. _What did he mean? _She thought as she looked worriedly at the open space next to him on the bed. He cracked opened his eyes tiredly and saw she looked nervous.

"Hinata, I am too tired to try anything. I just want to have you near me while I sleep," he explained to her simply.

Hinata blushed and looked relieved. She walked around to the other side of the bed and laid down beside him on the bed. Hinata forced herself to relax as she stared at the ceiling and saw the pinpoints of the morning sunlight that came through the heavy drapes.

Itachi reached over and put his hand against hers so he would not lose contact with her. She looked over at him and saw he was half asleep and it made her feel special that he would want to have her close to him. She basked in the lovely sense of intimacy that had settled over them and smiled slightly before allowing herself to sleep.

A few hours later Itachi woke up and turned his head toward Hinata and watched her as she slept. His eyes roamed over her long hair as it was fanned over her pillow. He reached over and slid the long tresses around his fingers. He watched as she shifted in her sleep towards him and smiled and wondered if she was dreaming about him again.

As though she could sense his eyes on her she woke up. She seemed disoriented for a moment before she remembered where she was at and relaxed. A blush slid over her cheeks as she looked over at him with sleepy eyes. "Mmm, hello," she said softly.

Itachi rolled on his side and looked back at her. "Did you have a good dream?" .

Hinata sighed happily. "Yes," she told him not giving him any details.

His eyes remained on her as he waited patiently for her to tell him about it like she did the other dreams. "Well...?" He finally asked her.

Hinata turned away bashfully. "I will tell you after it happens," she told him cryptically hoping he wouldn't ask her for more details. The scene she saw in her dream was definitely not something that was going to happen overnight, and she couldn't bring herself to discuss it with him.

He didn't, except to press her a little by asking, "Was I in it?"

Hinata smiled at him while nodding, "Yes."

Her answer was good enough for him, because as long as he was part of her future that was all that mattered to him. Closing his eyes he allowed the subject to drop completely.

Hinata looked over at him relieved that he wasn't pressing her for details any more. It would be just too embarrassing and they were no where near that stage in their relationship. She decided to talk about something different, something neutral. "Itachi, I made some soup. Do you want me to get you some?"

"Yes." He told her feeling sleepy again and he turned slightly on his side in a more comfortable position. She climbed out of the bed and went into the kitchen to warm it up for him.

When she came back in his room after heating up his soup, he was already asleep again. She looked at his face that looked so peaceful while he was sleeping. She decided to let him rest some more and took the bowl of soup back out into the kitchen. She sat down and ate it herself. After she was done she decided to do a little shopping for him. After turning off the burner on the stove she took out the pen and paper she found yesterday and began to make another list.

When she came back from shopping Sasuke was there and he helped her with one of the heavy bags. "I'm glad you are back. He says he is hungry and I was dreading having to spoon feed him," he told her with a shudder.

Hinata laughed.

"That will not be necessary," Itachi told them from the doorway, a little irritated they were talking about him like he was an invalid.

Hinata stopped putting away groceries and went over to him and put her arms around him. "I'm glad you are feeling better," she said to him as she put her face against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head.

Sasuke looked over at them and was beginning to feel acutely uncomfortable. He cleared his throat and Hinata blushed and stepped away from him. She went back over to putting the groceries away. Itachi sat down and looked at everything she bought. "You didn't have to do this for me Hinata," he told her.

She blushed and looked uncomfortable. "It was no problem, I just wanted to help," she said softly.

Sasuke looked at his brother and smirked.

Itachi ignored him.

Sasuke went over to him and whispered, "I think you should marry her."

Itachi just glared at him that told him to mind his own business.

"I will come back later," he said to his brother with a knowing look and left to go back to his apartment. It was getting way too domestic at his brother's place.

Hinata handed him a roll and began heating up the soup she made yesterday. He watched her as she worked in the kitchen and he could get used to having her around. _She is nice to look at too,_ he thought as he watched her graceful movements with admiring eyes.

She set a bowl of hot soup in front of him. "Here you go," she told him.

He thanked her and she sat down.

Itachi looked over at Hinata with serious eyes. "Sasuke told me that you are being watched by your cousin, were you aware of that?"

She looked surprised that they figured it out. She activated her Byakugan and spotted him a few blocks away. "Yes, I confronted him about it last night on my way home. He promised he will not tell my father where I have been going," she told him uncomfortably. "I need to go soon, so I will not get in trouble."

"Hinata, I know something is going on with you at home. Do you want to talk to me about it?" He asked her patiently.

Hinata put her face in her hands for a few minutes and took a shaky breath. She knew she could longer put off the truth. She had to tell him. "The other night when you found me by the river, my father had told me something else. He is forcing me to get married . He has several men picked out for me who have offered for me and I am to choose one of them before my eighteenth birthday which is coming up in less than two months," she told him apologetically.

He looked angry for a moment before he coverered up his emotions so he wouldn't upset her. "I see," he said finally. "What are you going to do about it?" He asked her after a moment of silence where he appeared to be thinking rapidly.

Hinata looked away. "I went to the Hokage to find out my rights and she told me until I turn eighteen he has the power as clan leader to force me to marry against my will. Since I am not being physically abused, I have no legal standing to emancipate and move out on my own. He can force me to come back home at any time," she told him in a frustrated voice. "I have the option to either run away and hide out until after my birtthday or..." She just couldn't tell him the other option.

"Get married," he stated for her quietly. She closed her eyes not wanting to see his reaction. "Yes."

Hinata stood up and started walking toward the door. "I'm sorry Itachi," she told him.

He grabbed her by the wrist. "Where are you going?"

She looked down at the ground embarrassed. "I don't want to force you to become involved in my problems," she said trying not to cry. He pulled her into his arms. "I am involved Hinata...I want to marry you."

**Author's Note:** 3/31/12, I did a lot of editing to this chapter and I think it reads a little better. Thanks for reading.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

* * *

Hinata heard the words "I want to marry you" from him and had to stop herself from passing out with every bit of will power she had. She clung to him tightly as she composed herself. Then reality finally hit her. _He's only helping me so I don't have to marry against my will,_ she thought before taking a ragged breath.

"I can't let you do that for me," Hinata told him as she looked up at him. "I feel like I am forcing you and that is not acceptable to me. I-I w-will find another way," she stuttered slightly as she tried to remove herself from his arms.

He hauled her back to him and tightened his hold on her. She looked up at him with wide eyes.

"Hinata, I made up my mind that I was going to marry you a few days ago. I was just waiting until we knew each other better before I asked you. I also knew your father wasn't going to find me an acceptable son-in-law to him," he told her firmly.

Hinata's eyes and posture softened as she looked up at him. "You really want to marry me?" She asked him as she searched his face carefully.

A look of tenderness flashed in his eyes for just a moment. Hinata's heart flooded with joy. _He wants me_!

Itachi watched the emotions that crossed her face. He realized he wanted to marry her very badly, but he didn't want to scare her. He looked down at her and his gaze softened. "I do, I want you to be my wife," he told her honestly.

Hinata looked up at him and breathed out a sigh of relief. "Oh Itachi, I want to marry you too. I just didn't want to rush things between us," she told him with a brilliant smile.

Itachi looked down at her glowing face and found he didn't mind rushing things between them at all. "When do you want to get married?"

She looked away nervously, because part of her still felt deep down inside that he really didn't want to marry her. "Well, there is no real rush, so far my father has not pushed me to accept any of the offers. He said he would give me time to consider one of them. I could pretend I am considering one of them seriously to buy more time..."

Itachi looked down at her, his face was expressionless. "Or we could just elope a few days from now."

Hinata's eyes searched his. "Are you sure?" She asked him again.

"Yes, I am," he said firmly and wrapped his arms around her and held her close to him. In his arms, Hinata felt the strong steady beat of his heart next to her ear and sighed happily. When he held her like this, it made her feel like she was...home.

"Okay, I will meet you in two days, early in the morning at the front gate," she said as she snuggled her face closer to his chest.

Itachi pulled her tightly to him and breathed out deeply. "Hinata, I am going to speak to your father tomorrow. I have to try before we elope, it is the honorable thing to do," he told her resolutely as his grip on her tightened slightly.

She looked at him with respect in her eyes, "I understand. I don't think he will relent though, he doesn't like your notoriety and your past," she told him apologetically.

"I don't blame him there," he replied in a self-deprecating manner.

Reluctantly, Hinata's eyes drifted to a clock on the wall and her face sank. "I should probably go. I don't want my father to suspect anything."

He looked down at her with a frown. "Hinata be careful, if he tries to lock you up or take you anywhere send me word through your cousin and I will come for you," he told her worriedly. He was beginning to have a bad feeling about her going home and he didn't want her to leave.

"I will," She replied inwardly loving how protective he was of her. "I promise I will be careful. I will meet you outside the gate in two days time ." Feeling brave she kissed his cheek. She wanted to tell him she loved him, but she wasn't quite ready to open up with him yet.

"Okay, I will be there." He promised her before releasing her.

Hinata hurried home and took a bath and went out to her garden with a book.

Her sister joined her there. Hanabi looked at her sadly. "I'm sorry what father did to you, I didn't ask him to make me heiress in your place," She told her sister honestly.

Hinata pulled Hanabi close to her. "I know Hanabi, I think you will make a better clan leader than I would anyway," she told her with a smile.

"Do you really mean it Hinata, because I have been feeling really bad." Hinata looked at her sister with a frown.

"I do, I just hope you will be kind to the branch family members. Father has not treated them well at all over the years and some of them are very resentful,." Hinata advised her younger sister.

"I understand and I will be careful with them."

Hinata looked over at her little sister seriously. "Hanabi, I have to leave the clan."

Hanabi looked at her with a knowing look. "I know, Father is forcing you to get married," Hanabi told her.

"I'm not even going to ask how you found out," Hinata shook her head and smiled wryly. "I just want you to know that even if he doesn't allow me to visit you, I will still be there for you. I will find a way to see you," Hinata told as her eyes were beginning to tear up.

"I will come see you too." Hanabi said as she gripped her sister tightly. "I'm going to miss you."

"Just be happy, you deserve it." Hanabi told her earnestly.

"You too Hanabi. If ever father becomes more than you can handle, come to me." She told her sister urgently.

Hanabi nodded. "I will sis, I promise."

Hinata smiled. "Good."

* * *

[Early next morning]

Itachi stood at the gate of the Hyuuga Clan compound. He looked at it's massive size, but was not intimidated by it. He always felt his birthright could stand up against anyones'. He was not ashamed of who he was. He spoke to the clan member guarding the gate. "I would like to request an audience with Lord Hyuga, tell him Uchiha Itachi is here."

The guard looked nervous. "I am sorry Uchiha-sama, I was given orders by Hiashi-sama to deny you entrance should you try to see him. He also said to tell you to stay away from Hinata-sama or he will have you arrested," the guard said in an apologetic and fearful manner as if he were afraid of him.

Itachi looked at him with a harsh look. '_Her father doesn't deserve her_.' He thought angrily. "I understand." He told him and strode off.

Itachi stood in front the Hokage's desk and gave her a respectful bow. "Thank you for seeing me on such short notice. I wanted to notify you that Hinata and I will be eloping in two days time and would like to request some time off."

The Hokage gave a bark of laughter. "Good for you. Hinata did not want to get you involved, but legally she has very few options. My sources have told me that one of her suitors is the son of the Land of Fire's current Daimyo. I am sure Hiashi is going to force her to wed him. She would become almost a princess in the land. You must plan to leave soon, I am afraid he will try to take her out of the area and force her to be married," she told him urgently.

Itachi looked at her with hard eyes. "I will not allow him to do that."

The Hokage nodded with approval. "I will support you should Hiashi come after you and try to prosecute you legally. Once you become wed he will not be able to control her anymore." She was very pissed that one of her kunoichi was being treated so badly and she couldn't do anything to help her.

"Thank you Lady Hokage." Itachi told her sincerely as he nodded his head and turned and left the office.

Itachi went home and wrote a few messages and sent them off by a courier. He sent word to a priest who used to serve his clan and to a resort close by. He reserved a cabin for Hinata and him to spend a few days at for their honeymoon. He smiled slightly when he thought about that.

Hiashi received word from the guard. He looked out the window angrily. "How dare he presume to offer for my daughter. A former Akatsuki member and missing nin has no business wanting to marry my daughter," he said angrily to himself. He looked at the branch member standing at attention by the door. "Have Hinata come see me immediately," he ordered him. The member quickly left to follow orders.

Hinata bowed respectfully in an outwardly calm manner in front of her father. Inside she was a quaking mass of nerves. "Father, you wanted to see me," she asked him.

He looked at her harshly and did not ask her to take a seat. "Hinata, is there some reason Uchiha Itachi felt he could ask for your hand in marriage. Have you been encouraging him?" He asked her angrily.

"No father." Hinata tried to lie.

Hiashi activated his Byakugan and examined her chakra thoroughly. "Well, at least you are still a virgin," He said begrudgingly. "I do not want you to see him again. Is that clear. I will have him arrested if I find he has been near you."

He looked over at her and pointed to the chair in front of his desk. "Hinata sit down."

Hinata obediently obeyed and sat down. Her father looked at her for a long time before he spoke to her. "You have been a disappointment to me your whole life. You are weak and have no understanding of your position. You finally have a chance to redeem yourself in my sight and to do something extraordinary. The Fire Country's Daimyo has a son and he has sent me an offer for your hand. Apparently he saw you on one of your missions and has become enamored of you. I have already accepted his offer for you and you will leave at the end of the week. Until then you will be locked in your room. Do not think to escape as I will have your room and the compound heavily guarded."

Hinata looked up at her father and soaked in his words. "Oh father, how could you? Do you not care for me at all?" She asked him trying to hold back the tears. He looked down at her and saw some of his wife in her but quickly squashed those soft emotions.

"I do care for you Hinata and some day you will thank me for this," he said almost smugly as he pointed to the guards. "Take her to her room and make sure she is guarded completely around the clock."

Author's Note: Hiashi is such an easy person to make the bad guy. He is such a jerk to her. Anyway thanks to all who reviewed. This quick update is for you guys:)


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

* * *

Walking back to their apartment after dinner, Sasuke noticed Itachi had be even more quiet than usual and it made him concerned. Sasuke glanced over at him a few times before Itachi finally told him. "I'm getting married."

Sasuke looked at him surprised. "I wasn't serious when I said you should marry her," he said with a grin.

Itachi's eyes were troubled yet resolute as he explained. "Her father is forcing her to get married to the Daimyo's son. I couldn't let him do that to her."

Sasuke looked at him with a hidden smirk. "Wasn't there some other way? Marriage is going rather far to help someone?"

Itachi gave him an irritated look. "You've known all along I was planning to marry her eventually."

Sasuke shrugged. "Tch, that's true. So, what's bothering you now?"

Itachi frowned. "I am supposed to meet her at the front gate tomorrow morning and I have a feeling that something is wrong," he told his brother quietly.

Sasuke gave him a long penetrating look before stating the obvious. "Then we'll just have to go get her sooner."

Itachi looked over at his brother and knew what they were about to do could technically be an act of war. Kidnapping the clan heir and entering through the compound gate unlawfully but still he nodded. "My thoughts exactly," he agreed and saved his breath by not even telling his brother not to help him. He knew Sasuke was an unmovable force once he made up his mind.

* * *

Feeling a bit like an animal trapped in a cage, Hinata was filled with frustration so she tried to stay calm by packing her pack with essentials. She had tried to escape earlier in the day by climbing out of her window, but some of her father's men caught her and dragged her back into the house. Now there were branch members posted all around the compound and it made her regret even coming back home.

Her eyes were filled with pain as she wondered how her father could do this to her. They had never been close, but this was going too far even for him. A noise by her door startled her and she saw her sister walk through the door. Dropping the clothes she had been folding she ran over to her and was soon enveloped in a giant hug.

"I am surprised they let you in my room," Hinata said anxiously as he eyes darted toward the door. She would have said more but her sister stopped her by placing an urgent hand over her mouth.

"Neji and I are going to get you out. He is going over tonight to talk to Uchiha to make plans and arrange a meeting time outside of our gate. Be ready to go by first light," Hanabi whispered before heading back towards the door and was gone in a flash before her over-protective older sister could protest or comment about the plan.

Hinata stared at the door her sister had just exited and couldn't help but worry about her and Neji. While she was grateful they were helping her, she couldn't help but dislike the risks they were taking for her. It also bothered her that she was leaving Hanabi alone with her father and clan unprotected.

Slumping down on the bed next to her half-full pack her mind weighed the situation and made her feel torn about leaving home. Was she doing the right thing, placing her future into the hands of a man she barely knew?

* * *

Later that evening Neji knocked on the Uchiha's door. A couple minutes later Sasuke opened it without greeting him and let him in. Itachi was reclining on the couch and sat up when he saw who was there. After he saw the somber expression on Neji's face he knew Hinata was in trouble.

"Her father locked her up didn't he?" He guessed flatly with hard eyes.

Neji looked at him with a look of frustration. "Yes, she has been locked in her room since morning. He is planning in a few days to send her to the Daimyo at the capital city to marry his son."

Itachi began to get up off the couch with a look of cold determination on his face. Sasuke also was about to go to his apartment to get his gear when Neji stopped him. "I came over to tell you her younger sister, Hanabi, and I are going to get her out. I have talked to some of the guards that are watching over her room and they will not give us any trouble. They have no loyalty towards my uncle. If we don't have her through the gate by 0400 then you will need to come in and help extract her. I just ask that you do not kill anyone, the branch family members have no choice but to serve my uncle due to the Caged Bird seal they wear. Hinata is loved and respected among most of the clan for her kindness toward them. They will not fight against us they are forced to do so," Neji explained to them impassively.

Itachi glanced at Sasuke and with a look got him to agree.

"I will not harm anyone," Sasuke promised the Hyuuga.

As Neji turned to leave, Itachi gave him a look of gratitude with a solemn inclination of his head.

Neji returned the nod slightly before leaving to go home.

[Early next morning]

Hinata sat on her bed and poked her fingers together with nervous anticipation. She had packed lightly only bringing some clothes, toiletries and small keepsakes that were precious to her. She would have to see if Hanabi could sneak out the rest of her things at another time. Her throat began to constrict as she took one more long glance around at her lovely bedroom and thought how this was probably the last night she would ever sleep here. She knew once she left the compound her father would never welcome her back.

A noise in the hallway startled her and she felt her body immediately begin to tense up with anxiety. She didn't want anyone to get hurt and she was still nervous about her sister and cousin getting involved. If they got caught by her father his retribution towards them could be harsh.

Hinata jumped off the bed and put her pack on her back and waited for the door to open.

A few moments later Hanabi silently opened the door and poked her head in and whispered, "Come on, we need to go now."

Hinata quickly followed her out the door and down the long hallway. The guards were scattered around the floor and she could tell they were out cold. What she didn't know was that they had allowed themselves to be knocked out so that it would look like they had put up a fight. Hanabi quickly opened the door to her room and went back to bed so her father wouldn't know she was involved.

Neji met her at the end of the hallway and they both activated their bloodline limits as he led her out the side door. He motioned for her to follow him after he recognized the chakra of the guards as ones willing to help them. Hinata's heart was racing and she willed herself to calm down. Neji looked over toward the main dojo and saw a bunch of guards come out along with his uncle into the courtyard.

"Damn," he said under his breath before turning to his cousin with an urgent whisper, "Hinata you need to start running toward the gate, I will hold them off."

Her chin only trembled a little as she stood her ground. "I can't let you do that for me Neji. I will stay and fight."

"Hinata, Itachi and Sasuke are waiting outside the gate for you," he told her urgently. "Don't worry about me."

Hinata looked anxiously toward the gate. She was not worried for them, she was worried about the branch family members that some of them were going to get hurt. She didn't want anyone dying because of her.

Neji saw her worried face and knew what she was concerned about. "I had them promise not to kill anyone, if possible," he informed her quickly.

Hinata looked relieved and released a pent up sigh. Her eyes shifted toward the headband Neji was wearing over his forehead. "Remove your head band," she ordered quietly, for once she looked to be every inch of the clan-heir she was born to be, except where her fingers trembled a little.

Neji sighed impatiently before shaking his head. "Hinata there isn't time for whatever it is that you want to do." .

"Neji, I need to help you. I am giving you a chance to be free from his control over you," she told him as she glanced toward her father's direction.

Neji relented and lifted up his head band to sit on top of his head. Hinata activated her Byakugan and quickly performed the hand-signs her father taught her and said "Juin Jutsu release." She reached up and touched his curse seal and watched as it began to fade beneath her fingers.

Neji forehead began to burn with fire and pain. He put his forehead protector over it and tried to ignore the excruciating pain that was piercing through his skull.

"I'm sorry Cousin, it um, should not hurt for long," Hinata explained to him apologetically with a timid smile. "Are you ready to go?"

He looked over at her gratefully and contained his elation at being free of the wretched seal. "Yes I am. Now stay with me," he told her firmly as he ran out in front of her.

They only went a short distance before they were completely surrounded. Hinata's father came out into the open and looked at both of them in a disparaging manner. "Hinata, you disappoint me, as usual," he said shaking his head disgustedly. "I worked very hard to form this marriage alliance with the Daimyo and you are trying to ruin it."

Hinata knew that voice well and forced herself to not be intimidated by him. Hiashi saw her attempt to stand up to him and began to feel a small glimmer of respect for his oldest daughter.

He turned his attention to Neji and smiled cruelly. "You made a mistake by helping her. I am going to make an example of you," his Uncle said as he made the hand-signs to activate the seal on his forehead. When nothing happened, Hiashi looked over at his nephew with surprise and wondered why he wasn't screaming in pain. Once swift glance at his daughter's nervous face told him who was responsible for removing the seal.

Neji glared back at him before saying to Hinata tautly. "I wasn't sure if he would actually go so far as to use it against me. He doesn't deserve to lead the clan anymore."

"Oh, I knew he would, that is why I removed it," she said sadly as she looked at her father with hurt eyes. She looked over at his hard cold eyes and tried to think of a time where he was kind to her while she was growing up and couldn't remember any.

Hiashi looked over at Hinata knowingly and sneered. "You have always disgusted me with your compassion and mercy. It was one of the reasons why I disowned you," he informed her icily. He looked over at the guards near him and commanded them, "Take her back inside and lock her up in the prison cell in the basement."

Neji stepped in front of her protectively. "They will have to go through me first," he warned him with flashing eyes. Hinata looked at her father with tears in her eyes before wiping them away angrily. She stepped beside her cousin and slid into her Jyuuken stance.

Hiashi smiled condescendingly at her like she was a child before he motioned to the guards to go lock her up. Several of them looked over at Neji and Hinata apologetically before advancing upon them.

Neji and Hinata stood back to back as a team as they began taking down the advancing clan members. Hinata almost cringed every time she made contact with one of her family members. She murmured sorry to one of her long-time friends just before she knocked him out.

Neji and Hinata scanned around as they began to see branch members begin to drop to the ground all around them. Soon their Byakugan alerted them that a heavy genjutsu was permeating the area. Neji and Hinata performed the hand-signs to release it from themselves. Hinata noticed her father was not effected by it as he looked toward the gate. His eyes narrowed in anger as he saw the two dark-headed Uchiha calmly walk into the court yard.

"Uchiha," Hiashi spat out. "What business do you have with my family?"

Itachi looked at the man in front of him with hard eyes. "You know why we are here? And I am not leaving without her." Sasuke stood silently next to his brother in support.

"What would someone like you want with my weak and foolish daughter?" Hiashi said as he pointed dismissively towards Hinata.

In an instant Itachi was behind him with a kunai held against his neck. "Don't ever speak about her like that in front of me again," he threatened him softly. Hiashi's eyes became wide with fear as he heard the thinly veiled menace in his voice, he knew he was beat.

"Take her," he told him in a defeated voice as Itachi released his hold on him. Hiashi looked over at Hinata and Neji. "The two of you are no longer welcome here," he said harshly. His eyes were filled with disgust and regret as he glanced over at his daughter one last time."You could have been a princess, but you threw it all away," he said shaking his head like she was an idiot. "You are never to see your sister again." He told her with hard eyes and began stepping warily away from Itachi.

"Father, I will see her again! You will not keep me from her," Hanabi shouted furiously as she came out of her hiding place into the open. She ran over and wrapped her arms defiantly around Hinata. She looked up at her big sister. "I promise you he will not keep me from you," she said with tears in her eyes. Hanabi glanced over at Itachi and then back at Hinata and grinned. "Now go and be happy."

Hinata hugged her sister even tighter. "I love you Hanabi," she said in a choked up voice. "I promise you I will be there for you, whenever you need me."

Hanabi looked up at her with a soft smile. "I know you will," she said simply with absolute faith in her sister before she ran away to go back into the house.

Hiashi glanced around at all the clan members on the ground and looked over at Itachi and Sasuke with their red eyes blazing. He couldn't help but be impressed at how easily they took out most of his clan with out anyone being injured. He looked at one of the clan members on the ground and saw he was sleeping peacefully. _Maybe an alliance between the two families wouldn't be such a bad thing after all, _his agile mind began to spin and to consider all the possible benefits an alliance with them would bring to him. He could think of one and it almost brought a smile to his face. He nodded stiffly toward Itachi before walking arrogantly toward the house.

Sasuke and Itachi stood back and let him go. Itachi had watched his future father-in-law's face before he left and could almost see his opportunistic mind working. He shook his head cynically as he fully expected him to try to reconcile with Hinata before the year was over. He looked over at his fiance and saw she appeared to be in shock. He raced to her side.

Hinata was standing still and staring out in the distance when he came up to her. Itachi looked into her glazed eyes and when she saw his face she snapped out of it.

"I'm fine," she stated in a tear choked and she turned away from him in order to compose herself. Hyuugas were taught from the cradle not to cry or show emotions in front of others.

While Itachi waited for her to compose herself he took a deep breath and felt himself relax when he looked over the mountains and could see the sun was beginning to rise.

Itachi leaned in slightly and whispered in her ear. "Come Hinata, let's go get married."

She sucked in her breath when she felt him slip a ring on her finger. Lifting her hand out in front of her she looked at the gold engagement ring and gasped in delight when she saw the beautiful diamond in the center of it. She looked up at him and saw he was watching her reaction with a small smile on his face and some of her anguish at losing her family began to melt away.

Sasuke stood away from them and watched his brother comfort Hinata. He knew his short time with just him and his brother hanging out all the time was already over. He watched as Itachi said something to her and slipped a ring on her finger and she began to stop crying. He watched as she looked at the ring on her finger and began to smile brilliantly at his brother. Sasuke turned away them with a smirk after she wrapped her arms around Itachi's shoulders and his brother began kissing her.

He spotted Neji a little bit away who had also turned uncomfortably away from them. He walked over to Neji and saw he was holding his forehead like he was in pain. "Hinata removed the Caged Bird seal from my forehead and it hurts like hell," neji gritted out.

"You can stay at my place or at Itachi's apartment until you find a place of your own," he told him as he glanced over at the couple who had finally stopped making out. "They won't need it for a few days," he said referring to their honeymoon with a smirk. Neji looked at him and quietly thanked him.

They began walking around all of the sleeping clan members toward the gate. Neji gestured to everyone on the ground. "Well done, I don't know how you were able to produce a genjutsu powerful enough to catch a clan of Byakugan users off guard, but you pulled it off," he stated impressed by their abilities.

Sasuke shrugged his shoulders. "It wasn't me, it was all Itachi's idea. He had me do a sleeping genjutsu simultaneously with him, so it would cover the whole courtyard. Then we waited for it to take effect and just walked through the gate," he said passively like it was no big deal. He looked around and felt a little let down because he had been hoping to fight against some of them. Then his eyes shifted over to the Hyuuga next to him with speculation in them. "Do you want to train with me tomorrow morning?"

Neji looked over at him with his hands covering his forehead. "I will let you know in the morning. My headache should be feeling better by then," he replied stoically.

Hinata was walking with Itachi behind them and overheard what Sasuke said about the genjutsu they used. She looked over at her future husband gratefully. "T-thank you for not hurting my clan... I didn't want anyone dying because of me," she told him solemnly.

His eyes were understanding as he looked at her and nodded. He knew she would have been upset if people would have died today, so he took extra care when planning what jutsu to use.

They stopped at Itachi's apartment to pick up his back pack and to drop off Neji. He had decided to stay at Itachi's house and go looking for his own place in the morning. Itachi gave him some pain medicine he had left over from his illness and Neji went to go lay down.

"I'm sorry I can't go to your ceremony Hinata," he told her apologetically before he went into the room.

"It's alright Neji, you did more than enough for me today. I will see you when we get back," she told him with a soft smile.

Sasuke looked at Itachi and Hinata. "I'm leaving now, I will meet you there," he told them and then left the apartment to give them some privacy, besides watching them kiss all the time was beginning to get on his nerves.

Hinata watched Itachi as he picked up his back pack and began to feel the flutter of nerves in her stomach. She began to blush when she thought about what was going to happen later that night. She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself.

Itachi watched his fiance slightly amused. He had a pretty good idea about what she was getting nervous about. He came over to her and placed his hand gently around hers. "Are you ready Hinata?" He asked her softly.

She took a deep breath and couldn't find the strength to quite meet his eyes "Yes Itachi, I am."

Her fiancé understood and opened the door for her.

Edited: 3/28/13


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Sasuke went around the bend in the road and it wasn't long before he spotted the familiar clan symbol in the rock. It wasn't visible to the naked eye, as it required a Sharingan to see it. He quickly veered off onto the road that would lead him to the temple. As he ambled down the dirt road a wave of nostalgia hit him as he began to see the familiar landmarks.

After a few miles he he saw the temple priest's home of the road along with the small garden in front of it. He watched as a couple of birds splashed happily in the small pond on the other side of the garden. The sight brought a glimmer of a smile to his face as he remembered coming here with his family on special holy days to worship a few times a year. His father and mother would always spend a long time talking to the priest and would usually tell him and Itachi to go outside and play, which they would do so happily. They would roam the hills above the temple and he would pester Itachi to teach him things and to train with him.

Looking back he realized he had always enjoyed coming to this place. Not only was it a special family tradition, but it was also one of the few times he got to be alone with his brother. At least they had been alone until _she _had began to follow them. He thought of the little dark-haired girl about his age that used to follow them whenever they came to visit. She used to be so annoying. They used to try to lose her in the forest, but she always would find them. _What was her name again_? Sasuke wracked his brain trying to remember. _I wonder what became of her._

He walked past the priest's home and went closer to the hillside toward the temple. It was an old temple that was built almost into the hillside. It had originally been built by his clan to remember dead clan members who fought during the First and Second Shinobi wars. He looked on the wall and read the names of his past ancestors. Their names were beginning to become faded with the passage of time. He looked further down and saw that someone had added not only the names of his parents but the rest of the clan that had died during the massacre as well.

Sasuke closed his eyes as the pain of their loss washed over him anew. He rubbed his fingers lightly over their names. He stiffened slightly when he felt someone come up behind him.

"I miss them too Sasuke-kun," he heard the voice of his family's long time priest say to him.

Sasuke took a deep breath before turning around to greet him. He bowed respectfully before saying informally "Hello Shinpu-san."

Shinpu Jotaro looked over at the young man standing before him with joy. "Sasuke-kun, welcome. It has been a long time," he greeted the young man with a smile that made the wrinkles around his eyes crinkle up. Sasuke and Itachi used to try to guess how old he was when they were younger. Looking at the old man now, he appeared to be even more ancient.

"Thank you Shinpu, I am here for my brother's wedding," he told him passively.

"Ah yes, Masa and I were overjoyed to receive your brother's message that said he wanted to get married. We have been making preparations since yesterday," he told him with a merry laugh.

Sasuke's ear perked up when he heard the name of Masa. _That's her name, I remember now,_ he thought to himself committing her name to memory, so he wouldn't forget it again.

Shinpu looked over at him with misty eyes. "I am very glad to see you and your brother are no longer enemies," he said as he wiped his old eyes with the back of his hand. "Your father had spoken to me many times in the past and I was well aware of his plans to rebel against Konoha. I tried to advise him to negotiate with the leadership, but he would always refuse to listen to reason," he said shaking his head sadly. "I still mourn him and the rest of the clan every day."

"I do to," Sasuke said quietly. "However, I am glad to have my brother back in my life."

"I am happy for both of you," Shinpu said with another peaceful smile.

Sasuke walked away from the priest and went to the shrine on the side of the temple. When he walked around the corner he looked at the shrine and saw it was covered in white flowers. He noticed Masa was there with her back turned to him and she was reaching up and attaching more flowers to the top of it.

She was wearing a long white robe and her dark hair hung in glossy waves down to the middle of her back. He watched her silently as she applied more flowers to the shrine. She finally stopped when she felt him staring at her. A deep breath escaped her before she turned around slowly before lifting her eyes to look up at him. They stared at each other for a few moments before she began to smile shyly at him.

"Hello, Sasuke-kun," Masa said, having no problems at all remembering his name.

* * *

Hinata walked down the road with her hand in his and her eyes looked around her as if in a daze. The whole day had a strange, unreal feel to it. Throughout most of their journey she tried unsuccessfully to block out the horrible incident with her father and her clan earlier in the day. She lifted her face to the late morning sun and took a deep breath and determined in her mind she was not going to allow it to ruin the rest of her day. She glanced over at Itachi with a soft smile.

Itachi felt her eyes on him and turned toward her and watched as she slowly began to blush. He knew she was still in shock after what that bastard of a father did to her. He could also tell she was extremely nervous about their wedding night so he decided to not push her to do anything she wasn't ready for. He rubbed his thumb lightly over the top of her hand and she squeezed his hand slightly in return.

Itachi looked ahead and he saw the clan symbol in the rock with his Sharingan activated. "We are almost there," he told Hinata as he guided her down the small road.

"Okay," she responded quietly. She was wound tight as a drum and was trying desperately to calm the nerves in her stomach. She desperately wanted to enjoy this day, but she couldn't get past the lingering doubt that he really didn't want to marry her.

She looked around her at the peaceful surroundings and the hills in the background and she forced herself to relax. She looked over at him and saw he was watching her reactions to the place with a slight smile. She smiled back and looked at him questioningly as she gestured to their surroundings.

"It was my clan's secret temple. It was built during the Second Shinobi wars to honor the Uchiha clan members who died in them. Sasuke and I used to have to come here with our parents a few times a year for holy days," he explained to her.

Hinata looked around her and thought that it was beautiful. "My clan has a temple outside of Konoha that we go to also. There is also one inside the compound," she told him wistfully thinking about her sister and how she wished she could be there with her.

Itachi saw Shinpu standing in front of the door to the temple. He led Hinata up to him.

Shinpu smiled at the couple happily. "Uchiha-sama," he said as he greeted his new clan head respectfully.

Itachi looked at him a bit uncomfortably. "Please Shinpu, just call me Itachi, like you used to," he asked the priest politely.

Shinpu nodded and turned to look at Hinata who was looking at him and trying to act calmly. Hinata bowed slightly to him. "Good afternoon Shinpu-san," she greeted him softly.

"Hyuga-sama," the priest said to her as he inclined his head. He looked over at Itachi with raised eyebrows after he saw her eyes and her unmarked forehead. "I see you have decided to wed the Hyuga heiress," he remarked to him with surprise in his voice. _The two clans have never mixed their bloodlines before. This should be interesting,_ the old man thought with fascination.

"Yes Shinpu, her father was forcing her to wed against her will and that is the reason for our haste," Itachi explained to him briefly.

Shinpu looked at Hinata with compassion in his eyes. "I'm sorry, my dear," he said so kindly Hinata almost began to cry. She shifted her eyes away from both of them in order to compose herself.

Shinpu looked over at his granddaughter who was talking to Sasuke and blushing. "Masa, why don't you go help the bride get ready," he called out to her.

Masa had been so busy talking and staring at Sasuke that she hadn't noticed that they had arrived. She hurried over and greeted Itachi with a smile. "Hello Itachi-sama. It is nice to see you again," she said respectfully with a proper bow.

"Masa, it is nice to see you. You are all grown up now," he said as he looked at her appreciatively. She smiled shyly and looked over at Hinata. "You must be the bride. If you will come with me I will help you get ready for the ceremony."

"Thank you Masa-san," Hinata told her gratefully, pleased to see another girl around, before she followed her to the house.

Masa took Hinata into the small house and led her into her room. Hinata gazed around the small bedroom and saw an old picture of a man and woman hanging on the wall.

"They were my parents, they died during the Third shinobi war when I was a baby," Masa told her quietly.

Hinata touched her hand and looked at her with compassion in her eyes. "I'm sorry, I lost my mother when I was only five," she told her softly, commiserating with her.

"It's alright Hyuga-sama I don't remember them at all, and I have always had grandpa. He is my tutor and some day I will become priestess of the temple in his place," she said with a contented smile.

"Please Masa-san, call me Hinata," she said with a shy smile.

Masa smiled back.

* * *

Itachi and Sasuke were standing together by the shrine. This place brought back a lot of memories for both of them. Itachi pointed over to a large oak tree and looked at his brother with a small grin and teased. "Do you remember when you fell out of that tree the last time we were here and father made me carry you all the way home?"

"Tch, I knew you were going to mention that," Sasuke replied with a scowl on his face. Sasuke glanced over at his older brother and it dawned on him that he could remember very few times, if any, where his brother ever did anything awkward or foolish. It seemed to him that he never took a misstep. His jutsu was always performed flawlessly with precision and accuracy. Even his words were spoken carefully. Yet, as gifted and brilliant as Itachi was, he had never met anyone less arrogant about his abilities than his brother was. It wasn't that his brother felt he was inferior to anyone, he just never flaunted his abilities.

Sasuke looked off into the distance with a small smile before he said quietly. "I hope you will be happy Itachi."

Itachi closed his eyes for a moment before he replied. He was immensely grateful for the close bond that had been restored to him with his hard and emotionally-detached younger brother. Hearing him say that to him after all the years of anger and hatred was something he never thought would happen.

"Thank you brother. I am glad you are with me today," he said unemotionally and stared off into the distance so his brother wouldn't see his face.

"I am too," Sasuke responded impassively as he examined the hill to the left of them.

A few moments later Shinpu, dressed in his long priestly robes, walked past them and stood in front of the shrine. Itachi turned to look behind him and saw Hinata was walking gracefully toward him. She was wearing a long white kimono with a decorative silver border. She was carrying a small bouquet of white lilies with green stems and a lavender bow was tied around them. In her hair there were small flowers woven through it and her long hair flowed down to the middle of of her back.

Itachi felt as if he had been hit with a body blow. He watched her walk down the path toward him with an intense primitive look of desire and possession. He was almost confused about where these emotions were coming from. He knew he cared about her and at times felt an almost compulsive need to have her with him. But he didn't realize the depths of his feelings towards her until then and it bewildered him. He quickly covered up the look of desire in his eyes and looked at her with his normal placid expression.

Hinata forced herself to calm her nerves down as she walked closer toward the shrine and to where Itachi was standing. She looked at him standing so strong and splendidly in the sunlight. She watched as he turned around and she almost stumbled when she saw the intense look of desire in his eyes. It made her realize that he really did want to marry her in ways that words never could. A warm and lovely feeling began to flow from the depths of her being and caused her to smile warmly at him.

Just before Hinata got closer to the altar, she tripped slightly in a small hole and he quickly reached out and caught her under her forearm before she even began to fall. "I've got you," he whispered in a slightly amused voice to her. He looked at her as she blushed prettily and realized he even thought her clumsiness was endearing. He pulled her gently beside him and placed his hand around hers.

Hinata looked up at Shinpu and saw the amused look in the priest's eyes as he watched them interact and blushed slightly at her mishap.

Masa stood slightly behind Hinata and Sasuke did the same behind his brother. He glanced over at Masa and saw she was looking at him. He quickly looked away from her and up at the priest and the shrine behind him. He forced himself not to look at her again during the ceremony.

Shinpu had everyone bow their heads as he prayed before the ceremony. A few minutes later he looked up at the bride and groom.

Shinpu looked at itachi first and spoke the vows. "Itachi, will you this woman marry and become her partner. Will you in peaceful times, during sickness; this person love; this person respect; this person comfort; this person help; until death; do you promise to fulfil?

Itachi looked over at Hinata and said in a quietly confident voice, "Hai, I promise." He reached over and gently placed a gold band on her finger and slipped another ring into her hand secretly for him.

Hinata almost sighed with pure joy when he made that promise to her. He was just so thoughtful, not at all like the rest of the world thought of him. She forced herself to look away from him and gave her attention to the priest.

Shinpu repeated the same vow to Hinata.

Hinata looked over at Itachi with quiet confidence in her eyes and said simply, "Hai, I promise." She reached over with slightly trembling hands and placed the ring on his finger.

Shinpu smiled on the young couple benevolently and laid his hands on their shoulders and prayed a blessing over them. "Kami no kago." (God bless you)

After the ceremony was over, Hinata was surprised when she saw Itachi go against tradition and lean over and kiss her lightly on the mouth. She looked in his eyes and saw a brief glimpse of amusement in his eyes before he covered it up. She gave him a quick look acknowledging his small act of cultural defiance. It made her very happy he did it.

Shinpu pulled them aside for a moment to talk to them privately. His wrinkled old face was crinkled in a smile as he looked knowingly at Hintata. "I see Kami has given you a gift."

Hinata looked at him with surprise in her eyes and nodded tentatively with a slight blush as she admitted, "Um, yes, sometimes I can see the future in dreams." She looked over and smiled shyly at Itachi. Who looked back at her with amusement and something else that she couldn't identify in his eyes.

Shinpu looked at the couple with wise and happy eyes. "While I was praying over you I was given a small vision about the two of you. I was shown what appeared to be an invisible cord that runs between you and connects you. Now that you are married the bonds will become even stronger. I believe you and your offspring will be a great blessing to Konoha and a source of strength for the village for generations to come."

Hinata and Itachi bowed to the old priest before he walked away from them. Then turned toward each other and their eyes connected. They both had physically felt the connection that ran between them at different times and knew what the priest said was true.

Itachi looked down at his bride and said in a voice only she could hear, "Hinata, I made reservations for us at a small resort about an hour away. I think we should leave soon."

Hinata looked away from him and bit her lip slightly. She couldn't stop herself from thinking about what was going to happen between them after they went to the resort and her emotions began to go haywire.

She looked back at him timidly but with quiet anticipation in her voice. "Okay. I will go and change now."

She went to leave to go change her clothes when he reached out and pulled her back towards him.

"You looked beautiful today Hinata," he told her quietly before he released his hold on her. Hinata looked up at him with growing confidence and smiled softly at him before she turned and left to go change.

Itachi looked around and saw his brother was talking to Masa quietly. He began to grin when he saw how often and for how long the two stared at each other. There was definitely something happening between them. He went over to join them.

Sasuke looked at his brother after he joined him. "Congratulations brother," he told him with a smirk, teasing him slightly.

Itachi glanced over at Masa before he turned to Sasuke with a knowing grin and let him know he knew he was interested in her. Sasuke looked back at him with narrowed eyes and shook his head. Itachi just raised his eyebrows slightly like he didn't believe him.

Masa oblivious to what they were doing looked over at Itachi. "Hinata is very kind and lovely. I hope you will be happy together," she told him shyly.

Itachi nodded slightly. "Thank you Masa-san. Maybe you could come visit us sometime after we get settled?" He asked her as he glanced over at Sasuke with a slight smirk. Sasuke glared off into the distance and looked completely disinterested in the whole conversation.

Masa was overjoyed at his invitation. In her whole life she had hardly ever been allowed to go anywhere and she would get to see Sasuke-kun again. She looked over and saw Hinata walking toward them dressed in dark blue pants and a shirt.

"Hinata, Itachi-sama said I could come visit you sometime. Isn't that great?" She said excitedly.

Hinata smiled at Itachi for being so nice to the girl. "I would love it if you come visit us. After we return to Konoha, I will make the arrangements with your grandfather. I have a younger sister who I would like you to meet also," she said to Masa.

Masa looked over at both of them excitedly. "Thank you so much. I look forward to visiting you."

Masa turned toward Sasuke, "I made some lunch in the house if you would like to have some before you leave." Sasuke shrugged his shoulders and began to follow her. He looked back at Itachi and smirked. "I will see you in a few days."

Hinata tiredly walked over and picked up her back pack. Itachi put his on his back and looked over at her. "The resort isn't that far away. We should be able to make there in time for dinner," he told her quietly.

"That sounds good. I am starving," she told him while putting her hand on her stomach. She had been unable to eat anything ever since her father locked her in her room.

He looked at her, his face was unreadable. "Then I suggest we leave now."

Hinata blushed and felt the butterflies begin fluttering in her stomach again.

* * *

They travelled at a fast pace until they came to a small town on the foothills of a mountain. A large wall surrounded the town and Hinata thought the mountain and the hills surrounding it were splendid. She followed Itachi through the gate and smiled. The town was very picturesque with quaint little shops and restaurants and a small park was in the center of it.

"Itachi, this place is lovely. How did you find it?" Hinata asked him, her shyness was temporarily forgotten in the midst of so much beauty.

"My partner, Kisame, and I came across it while we were on a mission and I always wanted to come back," he admitted to her.

Hinata was surprised at his answer because he has never spoken to her his about his time in Akatsuki before. She continued to follow him and looked around for places she might want to visit while they were staying there.

She looked in the distance towards the foothills and the mountains and she saw a huge waterfall and a small creek that ran through the center of town. "Oh Itachi - it is so beautiful," she told him beginning to feel overwhelmed at his thoughtfulness for bringing her there.

"Just wait, it gets better," he told her mysteriously with a ghost of a smile on his face.

He put his hand around hers and led her further through town to another gated area. They walked through the black iron gate and Hinata's jaw dropped and she made a delighted sound as she gazed in wonder around her. Itachi turned to watch her reaction and was not disappointed. She had told him once that she liked flowers and enjoyed working in her garden as a hobby. He knew this would be the perfect place to bring her.

The resort was a huge maze of flowers and trees that was surrounded by springs of water. There were little paths that led up to small cabins with private fences surrounding them. In the distance the waterfall appeared above the area and splashed magnificently into the creek below it.

Out of the corner of her eye, a smiling Hinata caught a glimpse of a man and a woman leaving their cabin. The couple was holding hands and then they started kissing and laughing. After one embarrassingly long kiss they disappeared back into their cabin and slammed the door behind them.

As she watched that intimate little vignette her smile began to falter under a barrage of nerves that began to lodge themselves in her throat and slither down into her stomach. Unable to face her husband of only a few hours she lowered her eyes and stared down at the ground and hoped he didn't notice how uncomfortable she was.

A long and uneasy silence began to settle between them.

"I will be right back," Itachi stated before turning and leaving.

Hinata didn't even think to follow him, instead she was grateful for a few moments alone to compose herself.

**Author's Note:**

"Shinpu" = God father (rough translation) I wasn't sure what to have them call the priest so I read through a couple Japanese culture websites and this is what I came up with. Also, regarding Itachi chastely kissing Hinata after the wedding, I read that it is frowned upon as a western tradition and PDA (public Displays of Affection) are considered to be very vulgar in Japan. However, the website also said occasionally a few people do go against tradition and kiss at their weddings.

The vows they said to each other are actual vows that are said in Japan. (At least that is what the website said) I thought it was appropriate.

Edited: 3/29/13


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Hinata used her time away from him so efficiently she was able to keep her face carefully bland as she followed him down the long path towards the cabin he had reserved for them. Soon they arrived at one that was slightly larger than the others and a little off the pathway. Even though just looking at it made her anxiety spike she couldn't help but admire the charming architecture of the rustic building with its ornate red roof.

Itachi used his key and unlocked the door and vanished inside.

Her eyes swiveled toward the open door and a lump began to form in her throat. She took a tentative step up on to the small porch and slowly made her way inside the cabin. Once inside, her composure began to crumble into dust and her hands trembled slightly as they closed the door behind her.

Anxious eyes surveyed the room as she turned around taking in the lovely and rustic looking furniture and décor until they ended up squarely on her husband's shirtless form as he was in the process of unbuttoning his pants.

"Wha...what are you doing?" She squeaked out after covering her eyes.

"Changing my clothes," he said, stating the obvious.

Feeling her cheeks begin to flame, she quickly darted into the bathroom all the while she hoped she didn't trip over anything as she had her eyes partially covered. Once inside she quickly shut the door and after dropping her back pack she finally breathed and then covered her hot face with her hands.

Hinata would have groaned out loud, but her stomach growled first. The noise was startling in the too quiet bathroom. To make things worse, as if on cue, Hinata heard Itachi say through the door..."Get dressed, I will take you out to dinner."

Which meant... he heard it..._how embarrassing_, she thought as she wondered how she was going to get used to living with someone when she had never even stayed the night at someone's house before. Her father had been so afraid someone might try to kidnap her, he had only allowed her away from the compound when she went with her team for missions.

* * *

When you can't find anything else to talk about, you can always talk about the weather...

"Um...nice weather we are having," Hinata mumbled in desperation after the silence between them at the dinner table had gone on almost awkwardly too long. The waiter had come and gone and along with him all of the stilted conversation regarding the menu vanished as well.

"I heard it is supposed to rain tomorrow," Itachi responded before taking a sip of his soda.

They were silent again, but this time it was a comfortable one as if by mutual consent they both decided that talking was not necessary. Now free of the burden to chat she gazed around her at all the unique shops. They were close to the park and she noticed in the center of it was an ornately beautiful walking bridge that was over the creek that ran through it. Over on the side of the park she saw a little dress shop that she was definitely going to stop by before they returned to Konoha.

Her attention was drawn away from window-gazing when Itachi nudged her slightly and pointed toward the mountain. Turning her head slightly she watched as the sun was sliding slowly down behind it and the clouds around the mountain that streaked through the sky appeared to be different colors of orange and purple. It was stunningly beautiful and Hinata sucked in her breath in awe at the sight. Delighted by what she saw she smiled in his direction to enjoy the scene with him and was surprised to see he hadn't been watching the sunset, instead he had been watching her all along.

At the warmth she saw in his eyes, her throat began to feel dry as she turned her eyes back towards the mountain to compose herself. Now that the sun had gone down, it was beginning to get dark. A restaurant worker had come around and lit the lanterns that hung outside on poles and the soft glow of light from them gave the outdoor patio they were on a cozy atmosphere.

"Would you guys like any dessert, we have some delicious green tea ice cream?" The waiter asked, trying to tempt them as he was clearing away their dishes from the table.

Even though Itachi liked dessert, he could go either way, his eyes glanced over toward his wife to see what she was in the mood for.

"Um...no thank you, I am just too full right now," she said with an apologetic smile.

The waiter set their bill on the table and after giving them a small bow he left them alone.

"I-it's starting to grow dark," Hinata observed before looking down at her hands as they rested beside his on the table. She was beginning to grow weary as the events of the long day were starting to catch up to her.

"We should go back now," Itachi suggested in a carefully neutral voice. He was doing his best to keep Hinata from feeling any pressure on her. Besides he noticed she had stifled more than a few yawns in the last half hour.

Hinata glanced out of the side of her eye and appreciated his patience with her. Still, a frown slid over her brow as she thought about her duty to be his wife in all ways possible. She was a Hyuuga, after all, and had been taught that shirking one's duty was on par with disrespecting an elder, it was something that a member of her clan should never do.

Her body grew rigid as she nodded her head slowly and began to get up from her seat when Itachi placed his hand on her shoulder and stopped her.

"Hinata, we are not going to rush into anything tonight. It has been a long day for both of us. Let's just go back and get ready for bed," he told her almost firmly as if he could tell what she was thinking.

Frowning, her eyes searched his carefully trying to tell if he was honest with her. When she saw nothing in his expression that would make her think otherwise her mouth slid in a small relieved smile. As she looked up at him her eyes softened slightly knowing in her heart she had married a good man.

Slipping her hand into his they walked along the bridge and breathed in the scented air before heading back to the cabin for the night.

* * *

Hinata was rummaging through her backpack and had just pulled out a pink nightie to wear to bed when she heard the bathroom door open behind her. Itachi came out wearing long sleeping pants without a shirt and she couldn't take her eyes off of him.

Standing up as though mesmerized her eyes couldn't help but admire his lightly tanned and elegantly sculpted chest. Heat began to course through her body, making her feel flush all over. Itachi watched her with quietly amused eyes as she ran into the bathroom.

Hinata quickly closed the door behind her and took a deep breath. _He is so beautiful_. Just thinking about his splendid body was making her feel unusually warm. She quickly took off her clothes and enjoyed the rush of cool night air before she put her cute, pink nightgown on. There was nothing sexy or alluring about it, it was more practical than anything. After taking a fortifying breath she reminded herself calmly that they were just going to go to bed and that was all. After brushing her teeth and combing her hair, she took one last glance at herself in the mirror before slowly opening the door.

When she first stepped out of the bathroom she found him in the kitchen looking through the fridge. The resort had filled it full of drinks and snacks and he was actually in the process of putting everything in order by color.

A smile quirked her mouth as she was starting to realize just how perfect of a ninja he was. In fact, she looked around the room and could find no personal items of his at all. She knew they were all his items were already packed up and ready to go at a moment's notice.

Tension began to build in her when she watched him stand up, admiring the graceful strength and the almost languid way in which he carried himself. He never seemed to be in a hurry and she released a soft breath of anticipation when she watched him walk over to her slowly and put his arms around her pulling her against his bare chest.

With an almost exhausted sigh, Hinata felt herself relax when she realized he only wanted to hold her and nothing else. She wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her face against his chest.

Itachi held her for several long moments before he released her and led her over to one side of the bed. Hinata watched with large eyes as he walked over and switched off the light. A few moments later as her eyes were still adjusting to the darkness of the room she felt his weight sink down the mattress beside her.

Lying down next to him, she felt about as relaxed as wooden board in the silence of the room, her nervous swallowing as her throat tightened with nerves seemed unnaturally loud to her.

A few more uncomfortable moments passed before her husband said softly, "Good night Hinata," before turning on his side away from her.

"Good night," Hinata responded before she released a quietly relieved breath and rolled over on her side and felt her body begin to relax somewhat.

They stayed like that for only a few minutes before she heard the even sound of his breathing and knew he was asleep, it didn't take her long to follow him.

**Author's Note:** I rewrote most of this chapter and most of the next one. This old story is finally getting the editing it so desperately deserves. Please bare with me:) (4/21/13)


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

**AN: Mature content warning.**

A loud clap of thunder woke her up with a start, her eyes opened wide. The sound of raindrops began to hit the roof with an almost rhythmic sound that was almost soothing. Snuggling down under the covers, she startled slightly when her hand bumped into Itachi's warm hand. Feeling slightly embarrassed she dragged it slowly away from him so she wouldn't disturb him.

Beside her she could hear the sound of his soft and even breathing and found there was something comforting about that as well. Resting her head on her fluffy pillow she thought it was pretty nice to have someone with her to share the experience, even if he wasn't awake.

A faint glow of moonlight streamed through the window and Hinata couldn't resist turning on her side and seeing what he looked like when his guard was down.

Her eyes softened and warm light began to simmer behind them at the sight of his long dark hair resting against the silver glow of his pale skin. The dim light softened his normally somber appearance making him seem almost approachable.

Captivated by the beautiful planes and shadows on his face, she lifted a tentative finger and slid it over his cheek and then over the strong line of his jaw. His skin was warm and surprisingly smooth with only a little stubble on it.

An innocent smile touched her mouth as she realized this is the closest to a man she has ever been.

Unable to pretend being asleep any longer, Itachi rolled over on his side and in the semi-darkness he lifted his eyes…slowly… until they met hers.

Her breath caught in her throat but for some reason she didn't feel nervous or embarrassed about it, because his hand and his fingers had reached out and tangled itself intimately with hers.

The connection with him was so sweet and gentle she couldn't help but close her eyes and melt a little.

She felt him move closer to her and when she opened her eyes she saw his face was tantalizingly near and she knew he would not come any closer to her without permission.

Slowly and without hesitation, she gave it. Leaning forward, her lips touched his. And for a moment they didn't move, they were both still as though they were savoring the precious contact, and then almost lazily his warm lips began to brush over hers coaxing her bottom lip open, before lightly tasting the lower lip, then the upper again.

It was a tender kiss, and it was so patient and unhurried, it made her fears of intimacy subside knowing they could stop at any moment.

His body slid a little closer and she could feel the warmth of his satiny skin through the thin, cotton night-gown she was wearing. The hand resting on her waist was unmoving and warm. The weight of it felt deliciously comfortable to her as it curved around her hip.

Sensual lips slid from her mouth to her face, then over her eyes. His kisses were slow and gentle and when he moved back to her mouth, her eyes opened and she watched as his slid open and met her gaze.

Without speaking his eyes continued to stare into hers, while his hand moved from her waist and curved around her the nape of her neck. Sliding his fingers ever so slowly against the exposed skin of her neck she felt her head press deeper into the pillow and before long she was staring up at him while his long hair fell around her head like an intimate, dark curtain.

Like she had done to him earlier, his fingers began to touch her face, one finger slid over her mouth from one side to the other in a lazy manner. All the while his fathomless dark eyes were on her face watching her.

As though under his spell, her neck arched delicately back and the room was beginning to grow a bit too warm. His mouth returned to hers, and though it was still slow and unhurried and it was also becoming unexpectedly arousing to her.

Subtle pressure from his mouth opened hers and his tongue began to slide inside touching her lower lip and almost shyly her tongue met his.

His mouth was still undemanding as his tongue tangled lazily with hers, while his hand moved the covers off of her exposing her warm skin to the exhilarating night air. His other hand slid at an unhurried pace until it rested on the soft flesh of her thigh just below her nightgown. His knuckles slid over her bare skin, caressing her back and forth…back and forth.

Hinata held back a moan as the sensuality of his mind-numbing kiss and touch was beginning to build a twisted strain of yearning within her she had never experienced before.

Being like this with him was a freeing, heady experience as she felt the heavy shackles of being the Hyuuga heiress begin to fall off of her. An unfolding joy took over her as she reached down and removed her night gown over her head before lying back down, a shy smile was on her face as she stared up at him.

The innocence and trust she had in her eyes touched a chord hidden deep within him and his eyes were warm as he laid his hand tenderly against her flushed cheek and slid it down toward her hairline.

"Hinata, are you sure about this," he asked her quietly, his onyx eyes were still, almost solemn as he looked down at her.

Though his body had craved hers all day, he was a patient man. If she wasn't ready for more, he would wait.

"Yes, I am sure," she said with a small smile as she laid her hand tenderly on the side of his face.

His eyes closed slowly in relief as he lowered himself on her and touched his lips to hers, as they moved over hers; she thought they were almost unbearably sweet.

Now that there would be no stopping, it didn't take long for slow, mind-drugging kisses to become fiercely passionate, hot and sensual as his hard body moved over her tender skin making her melt with pleasure underneath him.

While he buried his lips into hers, his body slid slowly back and forth over hers building a sensual, yet gentle friction.

Hinata thought she was going to expire on the spot when his hands cradled beneath her and wrapped her long legs around his waist. His palms glided over the soft skin of her thighs, while his lips trailed a delicate path over the sensitive curves of her neck.

Her mind couldn't think and her body began tremble beneath him as instinct and yearning began to take over for her as she lifted her hips arching them innocently against him and buried her fingers in his long hair.

Her eyes opened wide when she felt one his long fingers enter her damp heat and slide in...and out, caressing the delicate folds of flesh. His lips found hers again and his tongue plunged into the soft recesses of her mouth.

What he was doing to her was so unbearably arousing, tendrils of sublime pleasure began to build deep inside her until she couldn't take any more, she wanted him, desperately in fact, but she was shy. His deftly skilled fingers toyed and tortured her...she could have cried with relief when he lifted his mouth off of hers and stared down at her with questioning eyes.

_Yes, please yes_, her mind answered as her lips breathed out, "…please."

After one more soft kiss, the tension in his body began to be released as he settled himself to enter her. Sinking himself slowly with care into her soft flesh, he joined his body intimately with hers. And while he loved her with slow strokes, he felt a marvelous sense of peace build within him. After they were done they stayed joined together as neither wanted to move or separate from the other.

Hinata was so moved by what had just happened, at how loved she felt, she felt like crying. As she laid with her head on his chest as she listened to his strong heartbeat, she remembered how he had almost died when he came back to Konoha. Releasing a long, sweet sigh, she was so very grateful he didn't.

**Author's Note**: I completely rewrote this chapter as the other one always seemed a bit out of character to me. Anyway, I hope you like the changes:)


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Hinata woke up slowly after having the incredible dream of the future again. She sighed contentedly as she snuggled deeper under the covers and smiled very slowly to herself. Her pulse was beginning to race just thinking about what had happened last night.

After a few long moments a small frown began to mar her forehead as she got the odd feeling she was being watched. Opening her sleepy eyes up just a little... she looked straight into amused onyx eyes.

"Oh," she gasped out in surprise before a slight blush began to spread over her cheeks. She closed her eyes and helplessly tried to keep herself from smiling at him with little success.

"Good morning," Itachi said before he leaned over and kissed her softly on her mouth.

Hinata reached up and touched his cheek gently and closed her eyes sleepily, he had practically worn her out.

"Good morning," she replied whispering slightly as she shifted and snuggled closer to him.

They snuggled together for awhile in lazy contentment before Itachi leaned over, kissed her on the jaw and whispered, "I have something I want to show you."

Hinata blushed. Her brain seemed to be stuck on one thing and one thing only. She couldn't get herself to stop thinking about it. She forced herself to consider other things he might want to show her or do with her.

"Yes Itachi, what is it?" She asked curiously in a slightly breathless voice.

"Close your eyes," he commanded with a smile hiding behind his mouth.

Hinata's breath caught in her throat in nervous anticipation. "Um, okay," she answered a little skeptically before closing her eyes.

She felt him get off the bed and pick her up and began to carry her toward the back porch. Hinata began to get really nervous when she heard him unlock the door.

"Itachi, where are you taking me?" She asked him panicking slightly. They were both completely naked and he was taking her outside!

"You'll see," he told her mysteriously.

After he opened the door and she felt the morning air rush over her bare skin she began to get agitated. "Itachi, we don't have any clothes on," she reminded him in a high pitched voice.

"I know."

Hinata heard the water splash as his feet stepped into the water. "You can open your eyes now," he told her as he set her down in the water.

She opened her eyes and was delighted when she saw the large natural spring that was behind their cabin, it was big as a swimming pool. It had a high privacy fence around it she noticed gratefully. The morning air was slightly cool and the hot water in the spring was very comfortable and soothing. She looked around and saw the large stones that surrounded the spring had some lovely flowers tucked in around them. In the corner over the rocks a small waterfall kept recycling the water. They were sitting on a large natural stone that was built into the spring for people to sit on.

Hinata lifted up her long hair and leaned back into the water and let it cover her body up to her neck. She let her hair fall on the patio behind her to keep it from getting wet. Turning her head in Itachi's direction she saw that he had been watching her the whole time.

She blushed. "Um, it is beautiful," she told him before pointing towards the fence with a rueful smile. "I am glad it has a fence around it."

Itachi scooted closer to her and was almost touching her and his dark eyes continued to watch her.

Hinata looked away from him a little uncomfortably and quickly activated her Byakugan and checked to see if anyone was in the area. She couldn't spot anyone close by.

Itachi leaned a little closer to her. "No one else is around," he informed her trying to get her to relax.

Hinata tried to relax, she really did, but it was difficult because of his nearness to her. Every time he looked at her or touched her she was reminded of last night and her senses would become acutely heightened. Her mind and body were becoming utterly and completely engrossed with him. She was overwhelmed by the force of her emotions and didn't want him to know how she felt about him yet. She didn't want to make him feel guilty because he didn't care about her as much as she did him. Frustrated, she leaned her head back against the edge of the patio and closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She forced her mind to go blank and her body to calm down.

He moved a little closer to her and put his hand on her leg and she wrapped her hand around his. Itachi laid back next to her with his shoulder touching hers in a comfortable manner and closed his eyes.

His simple touch made her relax, because after all, she was tired and there was something very comfortable about being around him. Within a few minutes she started to almost fall back asleep. She startled a little when she heard his voice in her ear, "Hinata, let's go back inside," he told her as his hands gently caressed her shoulders in a subtle invitation, leaving her no doubt as to what they were going to do once they went inside.

Hinata felt her knees go weak as she nodded slightly to him. He reached out a hand to her and she allowed him to help pull her up out of the water. She followed him with shaky legs into the cabin as he led her into the bathroom.

While she put her long hair up in a scrunchie to keep it from getting wet, she watched him in the mirror open up the shower door and turn on the water. Hot steam from the hot shower began to fog up the mirror.

Pure desire began to race through her at the thought of taking a shower with him and putting her hands all over his amazing body. She turned around and blushed when she saw he had been watching her. She kept her gaze modestly down at the floor as she turned toward him and allowed him to pull her into the shower with him.

He didn't touch her right away as he watched her with hooded eyes. The water splashed over both of them as Hinata tentatively reached out and caressed his chest. Itachi stepped closer to her and put his arms around her waist before he lowered his mouth toward hers. He brushed his lips against hers back and forth slowly and tantalizingly; coaxing them to open for him...while his hand cupped around the soft weight of her wet and perfect breast. His sublimely tempting mouth began to drift over her neck and go lower...it was around noon when they finally left the cabin.

* * *

The sun was shining and they were enjoying a treat of cinnamon buns at a small outdoor bistro, Hinata was dressed in a yellow sun-dress and was delicately removing the sticky icing from her fingers with a napkin.

Taking a small sip from his cup of tea he leaned back in his seat and simply watched his beautiful bride. She was glowing today and was more relaxed than he had ever seen her before.

"Do you want the last one?" She asked him trying to be polite after she noticed there was only one roll left.

He had already eaten several of them and didn't want anymore. Plus he could tell she wanted to have it.

"No thank you, you may have it."

She smiled happily before putting it on her plate. Gazing over at her husband she blushed when she saw his eyes on her. As she bit into the lovely roll, she felt wonderful as all of the horrible anxiety of the past few weeks with her family had disappeared. Also, she was also deeply in love and didn't feel the need to hide it from him anymore.

Soon though, her mood began to plummet when she thought about how today was their last day before they had to go home. She knew when they got back they wouldn't see each other as much, because of their busy schedules. He trained constantly with his brother and was very busy with ANBU Black Ops. She also trained a lot and went on missions...a small sigh escaped her mouth.

"What's the matter Hinata?" Itachi asked her noticing the change in her mood.

She looked up at him sadly. "I am not ready to go back tomorrow."

Itachi understood her completely. Their relationship was so new to both of them and he found that he felt the same way. He knew when he got back to Konoha he would have to balance his time between her, Sasuke and ANBU.

He reached over and picked up her hand and she scooted her chair closer to him. He lifted up her hand and put her wrist to his mouth and began to kiss her pulse as he looked at her. Hinata felt herself begin to melt.

"Itachi," she said weakly.

He leaned closer to her and whispered. "Why don't you go shopping and I will meet you back at the cabin in about an hour?"

Hinata looked at him curiously as she responded, "Um...okay, I will see you when I get back."

After he watched her head off into the direction of the stores, Itachi went over to the see the resort clerk about reserving the cabin for another night. Then he went to find a ninja courier to let the Hokage know they would be delayed returning home by a day.

* * *

Hinata lifted up her face and allowed the slight breeze to flow through her hair. She opened her eyes and continued to climb up the hill. They were hiking up by the waterfall so they could have dinner up on the mountain top and watch the sun go down. Itachi was carrying a picnic basket that had their dinner in it.

Hinata looked off to the side and watched the water as it fell off the cliff and splashed down below them. She flinched when a small spray of water came out of nowhere hit her in the face. She laughed as she looked back at Itachi and smiled good humoredly at him as she wiped her face with her hand.

They hiked some more and she could see they were getting close to the top. She turned to the side of the path to look at a beautiful plant that caught her eye when another spray of water hit her in the chest this time. Hinata gasped as she felt the cold water splash her. She began get suspicious that this wasn't happening by accident and she quietly activated her Byakugan. She watched for a while and saw Itachi was just climbing up the hill calmly behind her.

When she got to the top she saw him make a slight one-handed hand-signal with her Byakugan and saw the water coming toward her. She quickly jumped out of the way and sent a long, thin spray of water back at him with her hand.

Itachi dodged it easily and used chakra to teleport himself directly behind her.

"Is water your element?" He asked her impressed at her ability to manipulate water.

She turned to look at him with laughter in her eyes. "Yes. What's yours?"

"Fire and water," he replied as he set the basket down on the ground.

"I figured you were a fire because your clan..." she started to say and then stopped, knowing any mention of his clan would be a mistake.

Her eyes fell in a silent apology after he turned away from her and stared out over the waterfall for a long while.

"The ability to manipulate fire in jutsu was considered a rite of passage in my clan along with activating our Sharingan," he told her quiet and distant voice.

Hinata closed her eyes when she heard him answer her. She was beginning to realize even talking about his clan was like tearing open a raw wound for him. Yet, he still answered her.

She came up behind him and wrapped her arms around him and put her face against his back. He put his hands on her arms and continued to stare out over the water. They stayed like that for a few moments before he stepped away from her and began to look for a suitable place for them to spread their blanket.

They found a large flat rock and spread the blanket over it. It was stunningly beautiful up on top of the mountain. They were alone because few people were willing to make the steep hike up the mountainside.

They sat next to each other on the blanket and looked over the town and the resort and listened to the roar of the waterfall in the background. She saw the park and pointed out the ornate walking bridge to him. She looked down and could see the red roof of their cabin as it was separated from the others. She picked up his hand and kissed it sweetly.

"Thank you for bringing me here," she said gratefully as she looked around her in awe. She hoped some day they would be able to come back.

"I had a feeling you would like this place," he told her as he looked out in front of him.

She smiled at his thoughtfulness. "It's perfect here," she said as she looked at him.

Itachi decided to let her know what he did earlier in the day. "I made arrangements so we could stay another night."

Hinata smiled delightedly at him. "Did you notify the Hokage?"

"Yes."

Hinata began to blush when she thought about Lady Tsunade's reaction to them staying longer. "You know the Hokage is going to tease us when we get back," she said with a small embarrassed laugh.

As Itachi reached over and pulled her in his arms and began to kiss her, he could really care less what anyone else thought.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

* * *

Hinata held onto him as they swayed to the music. It was the last night of their honeymoon and they had found out there was a small festival going on in the town. Earlier in the day he took her swimming at a small lake that was nearby and they had laid out in the sun. When they were done they had come back to their cabin and slept for most of the day.

Later in the evening they dressed up and had dinner at a lovely place where their table was lit with candlelight. After dinner they walked around the festival and looked at all the sights and sounds around them. While they were walking they saw a band playing music on a stage in the town square. Itachi led her to the platform where other couples were dancing and put his arms around her and they began to dance. She was surprised when he had led her out there that he would want to dance or even know how to do it. It just wasn't something she could ever picture her unromantic ninja-husband doing.

As they swayed to the slow music it soon became apparent to her that he was as amazing at dancing as he was at practically everything else he did. Maybe it was his Sharingan or the fact that he was the sort of person who never settled for anything less than excellence in all that he did. Hinata was becoming even more fascinated by him as he allowed her little by little to come to know him. She looked up at his face and allowed some of her thoughts to show.

Itachi looked down at her as she gazed at him with a small smile tugging the corners of her mouth. He felt her body against his as she moved with him slowly while they danced and thought she fit perfectly with him. He still didn't understand why he should be allowed to have someone like her in his life considering the bloody and brutal life he had led. His face looked remote and hard as he looked away and thought of all of the people he has killed or assassinated. His past was always with him like an anchor dragging him down but the more he was with her he began to start seeing the future too. She was like a balm to the festering wound on his weary black soul and sunlight to the darkness in his mind. As he lowered his head to kiss her, it was then that he knew he loved and needed her.

The skies suddenly opened up and began to pour down rain upon them. Itachi lifted his mouth off of hers and looked down at her amused as she began to laugh as she held on to him. The band stopped playing music and all of the couples began running off the platform.

"Let's go back Hinata."

Itachi told her as he grabbed her hand and they began to run off the platform. Hinata stopped running and let go of his hand and began to take off her sandals. She held them in her hand as she picked up his hand again and they began to run back toward their cabin. Hinata felt carefree and laughed as her bare feet splashed in another mud puddle along the path.

When they made it to their cabin Itachi opened the door as Hinata wrapped her arms around his soaked back and followed him inside. She was feeling almost drunk with happiness. In her whole life she had never felt so lighthearted and free as she did after spending the day with him. It had truly been the perfect day in her mind.

Hinata smiled at him as she saw how soaked he was. His hair was dripping and plastered to his face. She reached over and smoothed his hair away from his eyes. He did the same for her and looked down at her glowing face.

"Did you have a good day today?" He asked her as he pulled her toward him with a small grin and began unzipping her wet dress.

"Yes. It was one of the best days of my life," she answered him dreamily as she began to help him take off his shirt.

"Well, it's not over yet," he promised her as her dress slid down her body and pooled at her feet.

Hinata began to shiver in anticipation at what was to come.

* * *

Itachi knocked on the door of the Hokage's office. A moment later Shizune opened it and smiled at the newlyweds she turned over her shoulder and let the Hokage know they had returned.

"Let them in," she ordered her assistant.

When Itachi and Hinata came in the office the Hokage's face split into a wide knowing grin. Her eyes took in Hinata's glowing appearance and thought that she had never looked more relaxed and happy. She looked over at Itachi and noticed he looked as impassive as ever except he also seemed to be more relaxed than normal. _Their marriage appears to be off to a good start,_ the Hokage observed.

"Well, I see you _finally _made it back," the Hokage said teasing them about staying away an extra day. Hinata glanced at her husband with a small smile and blushed a fiery red. Itachi was unperturbed as usual and continued to look at the Hokage calmly.

"Thank you Lady Hokage, we are reporting back in and are available to serve you," he said speaking for both of them.

Lady Tsunade looked at Itachi seriously for a moment. "Actually, while you were gone something did come up, but your brother stepped up and went in your place," she told him.

Itachi nodded.

The Hokage looked over at both of them. "I have assignments for both of you starting tomorrow. However, tonight I am throwing a party for you both at Taneko's Bar, I expect you both to be there at seven."

Itachi mentally groaned at the thought of being the guest of honor at a party. However, none of his dismay showed on his face as he politely thanked the Hokage.

Hinata smiled happily at the Hokage. "Thank you Lady Hokage, we will be there," she said to her thinking about how thoughtful the Hokage was being toward them.

As they turned to leave Tsunade told them to report at nine a.m. on the following day. She didn't want to make it any earlier because she probably was going to be severely hung-over in the morning.

* * *

Hinata wearily dropped her bag on the floor after Itachi opened the door and let them in. It felt good to be home. It still seemed strange to think of his place as hers too and she began to blush slightly before she yawned. She was very tired after staying up so late and then Itachi made her get up early this morning to come home. She was ready to take a very long nap.

She looked around and saw a large bouquet of pink, white and lavender flowers on the table. She read the card and saw they were from her cousin Neji congratulating them on their marriage and thanking them for letting him stay there while they were away. He left them a note letting them know he had signed a lease on an apartment in the same building a couple of doors down from theirs.

"Itachi, my cousin is going to be our neighbor, he is renting an apartment a couple of doors down from ours," she told him happily.

"That's good," he told her impassively.

"I know, that way when we are all home from missions, I can make dinner for all of us."

_Yeah, and he can keep an eye on you when I am not around,_ he thought gratefully.

She looked at the note some more as she turned it over. On the other side he had written.

_Your father has relented about you coming home to see Hanabi and allowed for your things to be brought over to your new home. We put all of your stuff in the spare bedroom. Hanabi wanted me to tell you that she will come to see you in a few days. I will see you later at your party._

_Neji_

Hinata was so glad that her father wasn't going to keep her from her sister or the other clan members she began to cry. Itachi looked over at her and took the note from her and began to read it.

He put his arms around his wife glad that things were getting better in her family. He knew the way her father had treated her had devastated her. He looked over her shoulder with a cynical look as he thought about her father. _It won't be long now before the bastard comes over and tries to reconcile with her._

Itachi leaned over and kissed her gently and rubbed her back.

"Let's go take a nap," he whispered against her neck before he began to kiss her there. She began to melt and lean towards him.

"Mmm...Okay," she said no longer feeling as tired as she did a few minutes ago as she began to follow him towards the bedroom.

[Taneko's bar later that evening]

Itachi and Hinata sat at a table with Sasuke and Neji as they listened to the loud music that was playing over the speakers. The place was packed full of Ninja's. All of the teams had been invited and everyone was in drunken high spirits. It wasn't often the Hokage threw a party for all of them. The last one had been on New Years.

The newly married couple sat together drinking champagne and supported each other as they were subjected to good-natured teasing throughout the evening. Hinata could feel herself becoming a little tipsy as the evening wore on. She looked out over the dance floor and saw all the couples out there dancing and she giggled behind her hand when she saw Kakashi and Shizune making out in the middle of the dance floor.

She nudged Itachi and pointed towards them. She blushed as she thought of how they did the same thing last night. _At least no one here had seen us do it,_ she though gratefully. Itachi gave her a knowing look understanding her completely.

Tenten came up to the table and leaned down and whispered in Neji's ear. His face was only slightly less stoic as he followed her out to the dance floor. Sakura and Ino came up to the table next pushing each other trying to get to Sasuke first. Sasuke gave them each a hard look.

"Sasuke, you promised you would dance with me tonight," Sakura reminded him in a sickening sweet voice as she stepped in front of Ino.

_Shit_. Sasuke thought remembering how he promised her a dance earlier in the day if she would leave him alone. He looked over at his brother who was looking over at him and was clearly enjoying his predicament. Sasuke glared sharply at him before standing up with a painfully resigned look on his face as he followed Sakura to the dance floor.

After he returned back to the table, Sasuke had to deal with Ino. She had figured out Itachi was a lost cause, so she now was putting all of her effort into going after Sasuke.

Before she could even ask him to dance, Sasuke shot her a hard and dismissive look, "Go away, Ino."

Tears flooded over her face as she ran over to Choji who began to hug her with a delighted smile on his face.

The music stopped suddenly and the very inebriated Hokage took the stage. She had a microphone in one hand and her ever present glass of sake in the other. She took a long drink before she announced it was time for Karaoke to begin. She was dying to get up and sing before everyone. She had wanted to do this ever since she had went out with all of the jonin last month and watched them sing.

Over in the corner Shizune put her face in her hands worriedly. Hoping Lady Tsunade wouldn't make too big of an ass out of herself.

The Hokage scanned the audience. "Jiraiya, get up here," she ordered him when she spotted him.

He was sitting with two very easy women on his lap and was having a great time. "Oh no...no way!" He said as he waved his hands in front of him.

"Jiraiya!" She thundered in the microphone and everyone in the audience covered their ears in pain.

Jiraiya reluctantly allowed the girls off of his lap before he stood up and went onto the stage with her.

The Hokage handed a microphone and gave him a tipsy smile. Every watched stunned as they began to sing, "Stand by Me." They both had surprisingly decent singing voices. Tsunade began to sway drunkedly and Jiraiya put his arm around her as they sang. He kept trying to put his hand on her butt and she turned and glared at him while she sang the chorus. At the end of the song they smiled at each other as they sang the last line and the place erupted with laughter and clapping.

Jiraiya was overcome with the moment and tried to kiss Tsunade. She punched him and sent him through the wall before walking off the stage laughing with glee.

Sakura and Ino went up next and began to sing, "Gimme More." (Britney Spears) and sleazed around the stage as they sang only to Sasuke and tried to one-up each other for his attention.

Sasuke sat there in stoic silence as he waited for the torture to end. He didn't even bother to glance at Neji or his brother. Finally the song was over and they bounced off the stage yelling, "We love you Sasuke."

Neji groaned as he saw Lee and Guy sensei take the stage next. Just before Lee went on stage Tenten handed him a drink and she ran back over to their table snickering, covering her mouth with her hand. When she sat down Neji leaned over to her and asked. "What did you give him?"

She looked back at him innocently. "I just gave him some water," she said as she turned away smiling. Water s_piked with s_ake, she thought with a laugh.

Everyone in the room groaned as they began to sing some sappy song about friendship. As they began to sing, Lee began to sway drunkenly and Guy-sensei frowned and put his arm platonically around him and held him up.

Sasuke looked over at Neji and commiserated with him. He was very grateful he wasn't on their team. Even though Naruto and Sakura got on his last nerves, those two on stage creeped the hell out of him.

Taking another sip of her drink, Hinata began to giggle tipsily as she watched Lee punch and kick out every time he sang. He had a drunken look to him as he swayed to the music. He walked over to the chair where he had set his glass and took a long swig as Guy sensei sang his part.

Lee went back near his sensei and sang the chorus badly off-key along with his teacher.

"I'll ...be... there."

Suddenly, he turned and punched Guy in the face. Guy shook it off and tried to immobilize his student but found his reflexes were extraordinarily too fast. He looked at the glass Tenten had given him and sent her a knowing glare across the room. Tenten began to laugh behind her hand as she watched them begin to fight on stage as Guy tried to desperately restrain his lightning quick student.

Neji released a long-suffering breath as he grabbed her arm and forced her to help him go control their team-mate.

After everything settled down along with several broken tables and chairs, the Hokage stood on the stage and looked over the room. "Does anyone else want to come up."

"I will," Kakashi said simply.

He went up on the stage and began to sing, "The Way She Loves Me," by Tonic. As he began to sing in a sexy voice a bunch of females ran up to the stage and began throwing their bras at him. Shizune began to get insanely jealous and ran up to the front of the stage to be closer to him. After he was done she grabbed his arm and kept the women away from him and dragged him back to his seat.

Hinata took a long swig of champagne and stood up was about to go on stage when Itachi grabbed her wrist.

She began to giggle drunkenly. "I think I will sing to you," she said to him with as she swayed slightly.

Itachi looked at his bride horrified. A small dent formed on his face as he tried to think of some way to stop her. He was not about to let her make a fool of both of them in front of everyone.

Sasuke looked at his brother with an innocent looking smirk, "Come on Itachi, let her sing to you." He was dying to see his perfect brother get embarrassed in front of everyone.

Hinata picked up her glass and took another long drink of champagne and looked at his hand on her wrist with an inebriated frown and tried to pull away from him.

"Itachi, lemme go. I told you I want to sing to you," she complained to him in a slurred voice.

He leaned over and whispered in her ear and tried to distract her while people looked on.

She looked back at him and giggled and hit him playfully on the chest. "But Itachi, we do _that _all the time. Can't you wait until after I am done?" She asked him in a overly loud voice.

The room erupted with knowing laughter. Itachi looked placidly at his tipsy bride and raised his eyebrows slightly. She was going to be so embarrassed tomorrow after she found out how she acted.

He finally activated his Sharingan and looked into her eyes. He watched as she passed out and caught her before she fell on the floor. While he slung her over his shoulder and calmly began to carry her out of the building, everyone looked on and began to laugh even harder.

Sasuke watched as his brother left with Hinata. "Damn," he swore. He wished he would have thought to do that when Sakura and Ino were singing to him.

Songs: "I'll be there" by the Jackson 5, "The way she loves me" by Tonic, "Gimme More" by Brittany Spears and "Stand by Me" by Ben E King.

**Edited: 4/22/13**


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

**"The morning after..."**

* * *

The dim morning light poured into the room waking Hinata up. Opening her eyes warily she immediately closed them because they felt like sandpaper. Her hand covered her eyes as she tried to figure out why she felt so horrible.

"Hinata, you need to get up," Itachi said as he sat on the edge of the bed and began to massage her shoulder.

She opened her eyes again and saw her husband was dressed in full ANBU gear and was ready for his mission. She opened her eyes wide when she remembered she needed to see the Hokage this morning for a mission and she immediately began to get out of bed. Which turned out to be a bad idea after a a wave of nausea and dizziness crashed over her. She quickly sat back down on the bed and hoped the room would stop swaying.

Itachi put his arms around her and held her to him and looked down at her with amusement. "Take it easy. You still have an hour before you have to meet with the Hokage," he told her with a slight smile on his face.

Hinata rested her cheek against his chest. "I'm never drinking champagne again," she groaned as she put her hand up against her stomach. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed her husband appeared to be amused by something.

"What?" She asked him warily.

When he didn't answer her right away she began to get worried.

"Itachi...did something happen... at the party last night?"

"Do you really want to know?" He asked her seriously.

Hinata swallowed nervously as she tried to remember the events of the party. She remembered drinking champagne, lots of it. Then,the Hokage and Jiraiya singing and the rest was a blur. She wrinkled her brow as she thought some more and vaguely remembered seeing Lee and Guy-sensei up on the stage fighting, Tenten giggling and seeing Itachi's red eyes as they looked at her.

She sucked in her breath when she realized he had used his Sharingan on her.

"Itachi why did you use your Sharingan on me last night?" She asked him suspiciously.

"You wanted to go on stage and sing to me in front everyone," he told her flatly.

Hinata opened her mouth and then blushed in horror. "I didn't do that- did I?"

Itachi nodded before he rested his forehead against hers and looked into her eyes.

Realising he had kept her from doing something really embarrassing Hinata closed her eyes in relief.

"Thank you Itachi," she said in a quietly grateful voice as she rested her head on his chest. Her head and stomach felt horrible, but being held by him made her feel a little better.

They stayed like that for a few more moments before he told her, "Hinata, I need to go. I was contacted earlier this morning and I have a mission I need to go on. I should be back later this evening or early morning."

She nodded and gave him a small understanding smile and was sort of glad he wouldn't be around her while she was feeling so bad. "Alright, I will see you later then," she said as she gave him a weak smile and watched as he left.

* * *

Hinata was standing in front of the Hokage's desk waiting for the her to come into the office. She was feeling slightly better as the room was no longer spinning. Her stomach still felt horrible and she was not able to eat anything before she left the apartment. She had tried to drink some juice but it had made her want to throw up.

"Good morning, Hinata," Lady Tsunade said tiredly as she walked into the office. She looked a little hung over and she looked at Hinata and smiled knowing exactly how she felt.

"Shizune, go make one of your hang-over cures for me and one for Hinata."

Shizune walked over to a side desk and brought over two glasses of the nasty green concoction.

"I already made it for both of you. I had a feeling you both were going to be needing it," she said cheerfully. She was in a terrific mood as Kakashi had spent the night at her place and had left early this morning.

"Here you go Hinata," she said as she handed her a glass.

Hinata politely took the glass, but did not immediately drink from it. Instead she eyed it warily in all of it's green, slimy splendor and tried to hide her horror at having to drink something so vile looking.

"Drink it Hinata," the Hokage ordered her.

"It will make you feel much better," Shizune promised her in a more friendly tone.

Hinata took a deep breath before she quickly gulped half of it down. She forced herself to relax her gag-reflex as the vile stuff slid down her throat. She covered her mouth with her hand and tried desperately to keep herself from throwing up. Her eyes were watering as as she set the glass down.

"I'm sorry but I cannot drink anymore of that," she told the Hokage firmly.

"It's okay Hinata, I cannot manage to drink the whole glass either," she told her before gulping down half of her glass. She wiped her mouth off with the back of her hand as she tried to keep the stuff down.

Hinata began to notice that she was starting to feel much better. She almost felt like she could go eat breakfast. Her eyes were impressed as she glanced over at Shizune. "I am starting to feel better. Thank you."

Hinata's eyes then drifted over towards the Hokage as she hid her feeling of dread. "Thank you for the party you gave us last night. It was fun. At least the parts I remember of it were," Hinata told her apologetically with a proper bow.

The Hokage and Shizune burst out laughing as they looked at each other as they remembered how Hinata was carried out of the bar by her husband.

"What do you remember Hinata?" Shizune asked her with a grin.

Hinata looked at them shyly. "Well, I remember drinking a lot of champagne and people kept coming up and joking about us being newly wed and things like that and I remember the Karaoke."

"Did your husband mention that you made a scene about wanting to go on stage and sing to him?" The Hokage mentioned teasing her.

Hinata blushed and looked at the ground. "Yes...he told me he had to use his Sharingan to keep me from going up on stage."

The Hokage giggled. "Did he also tell you, that you let everyone in the bar know that you guys have sex all the time."

Shizune snorted and began laughing behind her hand when she saw Hinata's extremely bright red face.

"Oh no," Hinata said weakly, extremely embarrassed and if possible her face turned even redder.

The Hokage looked at the new bride and took pity on her.

"Hinata don't worry about what you said. It is expected for newly wed couples to do that all the time. Why do you think everyone kept teasing both of you all night long?"

Hinata thought about it and smiled slightly to herself thinking that the Hokage was right and began to feel a lot better.

"Thank you ma'am for telling me," she told her gratefully.

The Hokage was about to say something to her when they were interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Enter," she demanded firmly.

Shino and Kiba opened the door and walked cautiously in. Like Hinata they too, looked a little hung-over.

The Hokage didn't offer them the vile concoction instead she got straight to the business of their mission.

* * *

Kiba, Akamaru and Hinata walked behind the rich merchant as they escorted him to his village. Shino walked in front of the horse-drawn wagon that contained a large quantity of supplies. Hinata kept her Byakugan activated and stayed alert. While Kiba and Akamaru kept sniffing the air for intruders.

"Hey Hinata, why didn't you tell me and Shino you were going to get married?" Kiba asked her in a hurt voice.

"There was no time. My father was going to force me to marry the Diamyo's son. Itachi married me instead," she explained to him not going into a lot of detail.

"Oh, okay. We were a little hurt when we found out you had gotten married without us being there," he told her in a subdued voice.

"I'm sorry Kiba. We had a very simple ceremony with only his brother there to witness it," Hinata looked off into space and began to remember how he looked at her during the ceremony and her face began to get flushed and her knees began to get weak.

_Remember the mission,_ she reminded herself mentally.

Kiba noticed her blushing face and asked her. "So what's it like being married? Does he treat you well?" He asked her in a big-brotherly tone of voice.

Hinata blushed even more. "Um yes, he is very good to me," she told him as she began to fan her hot face with her hand.

Kiba chuckled to himself inwardly. He had overheard what she had said to her husband last night at the party about how they had sex all the time. _Lucky bastard,_ he thought jealously about Itachi. He was happy for her. If anyone deserved a little happiness, it was definitely her.

"I'm glad Hinata. You deserve to be happy," he told her sincerely as Akamaru barked his agreement in the background.

Hinata was touched. Her team-mates weren't exactly the most demonstrative people around, especially Shino. Kiba spent most of his time talking to Akamaru, but she always knew they cared about her and were there for her if she ever needed them.

"Thank you Kiba, you guys mean a lot to me too," she said as she squeezed his hand.

[Later that evening]

Hinata had come home early in the afternoon, because her mission was a short one. She had stopped by the market and decided to spend the evening cooking and baking as she waited for Itachi to come home. After she put the groceries away she went over to find Sasuke and Neji and invite them over for dinner. She didn't want to be alone and she was going to make a lot of food so she figured she might as well have them come over and keep her company.

Sasuke had been sleeping, but he said he would come by in a little bit. He was beginning to be really happy his brother married her. He had also been training a lot with Neji and was beginning to think of both of the Hyuugas' as family.

When Hinata went over to Neji's apartment it took him a long time to answer it. By the time he opened the door and he looked a little disheveled and was out of breath. Hinata quickly activated her Byakugan for just a second and began hide a small smile as she figured out what he had been doing.

"Do you want to come over for dinner tonight Cousin?" She asked him politely. Neji looked a little indecisive and glanced behind him slightly. "You can bring Tenten with you if you want," she said impishly, letting him know she knew Tenten was with him.

"Fine, we will be there in a little bit," he told her before closing the door on her. Hinata began to smile out right, she always knew her cousin liked Tenten and was glad they were together now.

After Hinata came home she began making her clan's famous chocolate cake. It was a carefully guarded secret that was passed down from mother to the eldest daughter. Even Hanabi didn't know how to make it. Not that she would care, as cooking was not her thing.

She put that in the oven and began cutting up vegetables for the giant pan of yakisoba she was going to make, and was just starting to clean up her mess when Sasuke walked in. Hinata began to blush because she was thinking how he had better learn to knock when both her and Itachi were around or he was going to end up walking in on them in a very awkward situation.

"Hello Sasuke. Have a seat, dinner is almost done," she told him as she poured him some iced tea.

"When is my brother due home?" He asked her as he sat down at the table. He was dying to train with him some more. He liked training with Neji, but it wasn't the same as training with Itachi. No one could challenge him like he did. He also just liked spending time with his brother, they were just so much alike and close that they didn't even need to talk to know what was going on with the other one.

He looked over at Hinata and smirked slightly. He knew Itachi was in love with her probably even before his perfect brother figured it out.

"He told me he would be home either late this evening or early in the morning," Hinata told him as she began to cut up vegetables for the salad she was making.

Sasuke watched as his new sister-in-law expertly cut up the lettuce to make a salad. She was glowing and her skin had a slight flush to it. Sasuke almost felt jealous at how happy Hinata was with his brother. It figures Itachi comes back to Konoha and finds the one gem hidden amongst all of the girls in this village. Sasuke looked away from her and a picture of another girl came to his mind. She had long dark hair and was wearing a flowing white robe. _Masa, _he thought to himself wondering when he could discreetly find out when she was coming to visit them. He just didn't want to alert his brother to his interest in her.

The doorbell rang. Sasuke got up from the table and opened the door and let them in. He immediately could tell just by reading their body language that they had been having sex. He rolled his eyes and thought disgustedly that he was surrounded by couples. If they started kissing and things like that at the table then he was going to get his food to go.

"Come on in you guys. You are just in time, I was just about to start dishing up the plates," Hinata told them. Tenten immediately came over to help her. She had her hair down and she looked gorgeous. Hinata always knew that the tomboy was beautiful under those buns she normally wore.

"Tenten, you should wear your hair down more often. You look nice," Hinata told her complimenting her.

"No, I don't want to. It gets in the way of training," Tenten told her firmly. She was a girl who had her priorities straight and she didn't let anything get in the way of training.

Sasuke looked over at the weapon's expert with approval. He looked over at Neji. "Why don't you bring her with you the next time we train. She could throw weapons at us while we fight each other," he told him.

Neji looked at him as if he were slightly deranged. "Have you seen the way she throws weapons, do you want to die?" He complained to Sasuke. He glanced over at Tenten and knew when she was in full battle mode she was scary as hell.

Sasuke shrugged his shoulders. After training with Itachi and Orochimaru he felt there wasn't anything he couldn't handle.

"Just bring her along next time."

Tenten came over behind Neji and looked over at Sasuke beginning to respect him slightly more.

"It sounds like fun," she said as she thought about how much fun it would be love to wipe that smug look off of the Uchiha's face.

"Good maybe Itachi could train with us if he is not on a mission," Sasuke said starting to feel better.

Hinata was beginning to feel a little left out, because with her skills she really couldn't add anything to their training session. She kept her thoughts to herself as she dished them up.

Everyone loved her cooking and ate a lot. Tenten even asked her if she would be willing to teach her how to cook sometime as she was always too busy sharpening her kunai and training to learn how to cook anything. She looked over at Neji and wanted to learn how to make him something wonderful.

"Sure Tenten, why don't you guys come over tomorrow, if you don't have a mission and we can make dinner together?" She offered.

"Okay, that sounds great," Tenten told her as she glanced over at Neji to see if it was okay. He just shrugged his shoulders letting her know it was fine with him.

They had cleared the table of all the dinner dishes and Hinata was frosting the large cake with gooey, fudgy chocolate icing when Itachi came through the door.

He took his shoes off and said hello to his brother and the others, but he kept his eyes on Hinata's backside the whole time he did it.

"Itachi, do you want to train tomorrow?" Sasuke asked him.

"Sure," Itachi said it like he wasn't really paying attention as he was completely engrossed in what Hinata was doing. Sasuke decided this was his cue to leave. He didn't like cake all that much anyway.

Itachi walked over to Hinata and she dipped her finger in the icing so he could taste it.

"Are you hungry?" She asked him as she felt herself getting warm as he licked the frosting off her finger.

"Yes," he said simply as he looked only at her.

Hinata looked at him eagerly and smiled softly at him.

He leaned over and whispered to her. "Come take a shower with me." He didn't give her time to answer as he grabbed her arm and pulled her with him into the bedroom and shut the door.

Tenten began to giggle at how obvious the newlyweds were. She began eyeing Neji and the chocolate cake.

"Neji, let's bring some of that cake back to your place and have dessert there," she said as she walked over to the cake and cut a few slices and put it on a plate. She dipped her finger in the icing and licked it off sensuously while Neji watched.

Neji smirked and began to get up out of his chair. Tenten was full of surprises he was finding out, his stern face almost cracked a smile as he followed her out of the apartment.

**Author's Note**: Edited: 4/22/13

Timeskip and big changes coming in next chapter!


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

**[One month later]**

Blood.

It was everywhere and Itachi's heart almost stopped in fear when he saw her long indigo-colored hair splayed out over the rubble and her pale skin in the distance. She was partially hidden behind a large rock and he could see part of her lavender colored jacked speckled with her blood. There was no doubt in his mind...it was her.

He started running towards her, but was suddenly stopped by a huge explosion of chakra. Then he suddenly woke up.

He opened his eyes wide. His heart was racing and he was breathing raggedly. He ruthlessly forced his body to calm down as he slowly moved his hand over towards her side of the bed. Relief flooded his mind when his hand touched her hair and he heard her slow even breathing as she slept peacefully next to him.

_She's alive!…It was just a dream,_ he thought as he closed his eyes and his body sagged with relief.

His eyes opened up and he sat up in alarm when he remembered that he never has dreams, ever. He didn't allow himself to. Ever since he was a child he had taught himself to sleep without dreaming because he kept having so many nightmares from the Shinobi Wars he had fought in.

The cold almost paralyzing fear was beginning to invade his mind again.

He quickly got himself under control and forced himself to be logical and not panic. He remembered that whenever Hinata had dreams she always had the same one multiple times and it was always the same. So far he had only had the dream once. He would just have to see if he had it again and try to remember any details that might give him some clues on how to prevent it. He looked over at his alarm clock and saw it was only one in the morning. He was wide awake and felt restless as hell and wasn't ready to go back to sleep.

His body felt numb, almost catatonic as he slid his legs over the side of the bed and reached over and found his pants neatly folded in a chair next to the bed and put them on. He walked out to the kitchen to get a snack just for something to do. When he got there he poured himself a glass of cold water. The room was completely dark except for the small light coming from the fridge. He stared with dead eyes at the food in the fridge and closed it when he realized he wasn't at all hungry.

Hinata woke up when she felt him leave the room and laid there and waited for him to come back to bed. After she waited for a while, she began to get worried about him. He usually came back to bed pretty quickly whenever he woke up in the middle of the night. _Maybe he is sick,_ she thought as she put on her nightgown and got up out of the bed.

She grew even more worried when she saw he was sitting on the couch in the living room...completely still...and in the dark.

"Itachi? Are you okay?" She asked him quietly as she turned on a small lamp.

"I'm fine," he said unemotionally with a dark undertone that clearly told her he didn't want to talk about it.

She continued to walk slowly towards him because she could tell he was _not fine,_ something was clearly wrong. She laid her hand on his arm and patiently waited and trusted that he would tell her what the matter was.

Itachi sighed. He could feel her patience, and trust and knew deep down he should tell her about his dream, but a lifetime of secrecy and acting as a double agent would not allow him to open himself up to her. He also didn't want to frighten her unneccessarily, so he decided he would handle it on his own.

He looked away from her as he ran his hand through his hair. "I couldn't sleep," he lied, only telling her half of the truth.

Hinata relaxed beside him and yelped slightly when he reached out suddenly and hauled her into his lap and kissed her long and hard. After he was done he buried his face in her neck and held her tightly against him as if he didn't want to let go of her.

Hinata was confused and becoming more worried about him by the second.

They had been married for over a month now and they had developed a very comfortable and relaxed relationship. It had been the best month of her life as she got to know him and love him. Loving him and being with him was like a precious gift and one that she did not take for granted.

They were often separated because of their jobs (especially his) or he was training with his brother. She cherished the time they spent together on quiet afternoons when they would just lay around or go shopping. It was also nice when they did chores together around the house. A small amused smile formed over her face as she thought about his compulsive tidiness and need for organization. His compulsiveness was even worse than she had first thought. He was so neat it was almost scary in the back of her mind she was beginning to wonder how he was going to handle it when they had children. (Messy, and chaotic children.)

She had found out yesterday that she was pregnant and was waiting for the right time to share the news with him. Her eyes darkened with worry as she felt his strong arms pull her even closer to him. Something was definitely bothering him, so she decided to wait until he was acting more like himself before she told him her wonderful news.

Hinata yawned. It had been a long day and she had a mission she needed to go on first thing in the morning. Gazing at him with concern-filled eyes she wished she didn't have to go anywhere tomorrow and just stay home and be with him.

"Itachi, come back to bed with me. I have a mission I have to go on in the morning," she reminded him tiredly.

Hinata became alarmed again when she saw a small glimmer of fear in his eyes before he anxiously turned away from her.

Itachi closed his eyes as he forced himself to become calm. He did not like the idea of his wife going on missions, especially when he had no idea of when or where this event was going to happen. He also did not want to go back to sleep and dream that hellish dream again, but he knew he had to. He took a small breath before he gently lifted up Hinata bridal style and carried her into their bedroom.

He laid her on the bed and he slowly removed her nightgown and threw it with unusual carelessness on the floor. He removed his pants before climbing on the bed beside her. After pulling her closer to him, he deeply breathed in her scent of lavender and felt the calming sense of peace he always had when he was with her. He leaned over and kissed her mouth gently and began touching her reverently as though she were precious and fragile and might disappear at any moment.

_Oh Itachi! _Hinata held back a sob and wrapped her arms and body tightly around him as she felt the desperation behind his lovemaking. Her heart ached for him as she gave herself to him and loved him as she sensed his worry and distress. His caresses and kisses were tender and gentle, yet she could feel a cold hard tension deep inside of him. She knew he was holding back some powerful emotions.

His mouth covered hers again as he filled her body with deep and powerful strokes. She closed her eyes and soon became lost as he took them both to a place of intense pleasure and pain.

After he was done loving her he looked down at his beautiful bride as she had her eyes closed and felt a sense of despair wash over him.

_I cannot lose her._

The thought was soon replaced with anger and determination.

_I will not lose her._

He rolled over on his side and tucked her in closely next to him as he tried to go back to sleep.

Hinata woke up very early next morning and covered her mouth with her hand as a wave of nausea forced her out of bed. She quickly glanced over and saw that Itachi was already up and probably out training with Sasuke as she climbed out of bed. On the way to bathroom she almost tripped over some clothes lying on the floor. Looking down she was shocked when she saw that they belonged to her husband.

The frown on her face deepened as she was becoming even more worried about him. During their whole marriage he had never left anything on the floor or even left anything out of place. _He must really be distracted to do something like this,_ she thought as she hurried to the bathroom.

* * *

Sasuke looked over at his brother and could tell he was unusually off today. He frowned when he saw Itachi just barely escaped being blown up by the paper-bomb he had attached to a kunai.

"Tch, he never has problems with those," he said outloud to himself in disgust.

_What is wrong with him? _He asked himself mentally as he looked over at Itachi. His brother had stopped fighting for a moment and was drinking water from his canteen. He was staring out into space and seemed far away.

Sasuke realized he should have known something was wrong when his brother showed up on his doorstep at an indecently early hour wanting to train. Sasuke had just shrugged his shoulders and invited him in and went to get ready. After all, he was always up for training, especially with his brother.

After they had gotten to the training grounds Itachi had been uncharacteristically reckless in his attacks and appeared to be distracted. He left himself open a few times which Sasuke promptly exploited and sent him flying on his ass.

Sasuke looked over at his brother and knew what he needed to do. He knew there was no way in hell his brother was going to open up and tell him what was going on, so he had to do the next best thing. Help him burn off all of that restless energy and anger through hardcore and excessive training.

"Itachi, we need to stop for the day or you are going to end up getting hurt," he taunted his big brother in a dismissive voice as he picked his fingernails with his kunai.

Itachi lifted an eyebrow and was unamused. "We'll see who gets hurt."

Sasuke knew his brother was going to go hard on him and he swallowed slightly as he saw the focused look on itachi's face. But if it helped his brother, then it would be worth it.

[A couple of hours later]

Sasuke wiped the blood away from his mouth and looked over at his brother with a satisfied smirk. Itachi was exhausted and covered in bruises but some of the nervous tension and the haunted look in his eyes were gone. Instead he appeared to be much calmer and more focused.

"Thank you Sasuke," Itachi said out of the blue, in a quiet voice.

Sasuke looked into his brother's eyes and began to grow worried. _Shit! Even training didn't help him much._ His brother wasn't even trying to hide his pain and worry. They never showed emotions to each other.

_What the hell is going on with him?_

"Itachi, what is going on?" He demanded.

Itachi turned around and began to walk away as he said cryptically, "I think I am cursed."

Sasuke frowned. _What's that supposed to mean?_ He thought as he watched his brother walk away before he ran to catch up with him.

He was about to talk to Itachi some more when his brother stopped him by lifting up his hand.

"I don't want to talk about it. I am going to see Shinpu later today," he said in a tone that clearly told him to back off.

"Fine, I am coming with you," Sasuke said stubbornly.

He was glad that Itachi didn't even argue with him but just told him to meet him over at his place in thirty minutes.

[A few hours later at the Uchiha Clan shrine temple]

Shinpu looked at the brothers with pride as they approached him. In his lifetime, he had never seen an Uchiha as powerful as they were, except for Madara of course.

"Itachi-sama, Sasuke-sama," he said before bowing before them.

Itachi and Sasuke bowed to him and Sasuke left to go find Masa.

"I need to speak to you Shinpu-san," Itachi said with quiet urgency.

The priest looked into his eyes for a few moments before he said.

"Follow me Itachi-sama," hesaid as he turned and led him into the small temple.

Shinpu looked intently at his new clan head as he told him about his dream. When Itachi was finished Shinpu closed his eyes as he pondered and thought about the dream he just heard.

Itachi looked at the ground and waited for the old priest to speak. When he didn't say anything for a long time Itachi began to get frustrated.

"You told Hinata and me that our marriage was a blessing and that future generations would be blessed through us. How can that be if she dies?" Itachi asked him in a cold voice.

"I still believe it to be true. You must have faith and believe that it will come to pass and she will not die," the priest explained patiently.

Itachi looked at the old man incredulously. Did the old man really expect him to do nothing but meditate and hope that it would all work out in the end?

Shinpu looked at him calmly as he explained.

"Sometimes our actions if taken recklessly can cause the very thing that we are trying to prevent to actually happen."

Itachi did not like hearing those words, but realized there was some wisdom in it.

"Consider this, Itachi, the only reason you are living today is because Kami gave Hinata a dream. You didn't do a thing to make it happen, yet it did. What Kami decides will be...will be," the priest said mysteriously.

Itachi's logical and analytical brain could not even begin to comprehend what the priest was saying to him. _Senile old fool._

Doing nothing and having faith was as foreign to him as him going up on stage and doing a comedy routine. It just was not something he knew how to do. Period.

Shinpu looked at him with understanding before saying prophetically.

"Your dream or vision may be a premonition of things to come. The dream may be asking you what you would put first; saving your wife or saving your village."

**Author's Note:** Sorry to leave you guys with that cliffie. I personally hate them as a reader but it seemed like a good place to end the chapter. Sorry:(

Also, I am so happy Naruto Shippuuden went into fillers with Jiraiya. I was hoping they were going to do that because then Itachi gets to live a little bit longer in the Anime. Plus, I just love the pervy sage. He is too awesome!


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

* * *

[Time skip – One week later, 0400, Konoha time]

Sasuke tiredly opened the door to let his brother in. A swift gaze over his face made him shake his head in frustration. Itachi had dark circles under his eyes and his face was becoming gaunt with fatigue. His normal placid, calm demeanor was replaced with a sort of desperate and nervous energy.

"You look like hell," Sasuke told him plainly.

Itachi ignored him. "Train with me."

His words were spoken in his normal calm voice, but Sasuke sensed something was driving his brother to act uncharacteristically reckless.

Sasuke stared hard into his brother's tired eyes and saw something that scared the hell out of him. He saw fear and desperation. Over the past few days he knew something was wrong with Itachi, but of course his brother would rather cut out his own tongue than open up and share his problem with him. He had always been secretive like that.

_Damn it, what could HE be afraid of_?

He knew his brother was fearless in battle and was afraid of no one. He could only think of one weakness he had and that was his love for Hinata, him and Konoha.

He turned away from his brother with a determined look on his face. This was going to be difficult—very difficult. Almost as hard as it would be getting that knucklehead, Naruto, to stop eating ramen for a whole day.

Sasuke sighed. One way or another he was going to find out what was going on with him. _Even if I have to beat it out of him_.

"Wait here. I'll be right back," he told his older brother tersely as he went into his room to get dressed and put on his training gear.

Itachi walked over to the couch and sat down wearily, like an old man. Leaning over he put his head in his hands. His body was exhausted, yet he couldn't relax. Every time he closed his eyes he kept seeing Hinata's deathly pale face with her hair spread out in the rocks and her blood splattered over everything. The vision, even after seeing it constantly for over a week still filled his heart with a sense of cold-blooded dread that nothing could alleviate.

_I have to save her. I won't let her die._

He just didn't know how he was going to do it. He had spent hours analyzing the dream and going over it frame by frame in his mind and he still couldn't find any clues or figure out when it was going to happen. The only thing he could determine was it was going to happen in Konoha. Somehow he just knew it. The attack probably involved his old organization Akatsuki. They were the only ones powerful enough to inflict that kind of damage on the village.

It was going to happen soon. In his dreams there was a sense of urgency that was driving him to keep analyzing them and when he couldn't stand looking at his wife covered in blood any longer he would go find Sasuke and train with him.

_I should go speak to the Hokage today. She needs to take extra security precautions to help protect the village,_ his mind reminded him wearily.

He was just so tired...so damn tired.

He just wished he could sleep without dreaming and get some rest. He tried every jutsu he could think of to help him sleep without dreaming but nothing seemed to work. The insidious and horribly vivid dreams kept coming, sometimes more than once in a night. It would just keep replaying over and over as he slept. At times he felt like he was trapped in his own Tsukuyomi nightmare realm.

The only thing that brought him any peace was Hinata. Every time he looked at her and saw she was still alive it gave him hope. Her being alive, and the fact the village was still intact, were the only sources of light left to him as he walked through the nightmare that was his life.

She was so good to him and so patient. He had tried many times to tell her what was going on but every time he tried the words wouldn't come out and he would end up hauling her close to him and holding her tightly as she cried in his arms.

He hated it when she cried, especially when he knew he was the source of it. It made him feel so guilty and like such a jerk. So, whenever she would start to cry he would almost automatically apologize like some sort of mindless robot and then leave her alone and go train with his brother.

"I'm an idiot," Itachi muttered under his breath to himself.

"Tch, you got that right," Sasuke said agreeing with him as he walked into the living room fully dressed and ready to go. He looked at his clearly exhausted older brother and felt his patience was beginning to disintegrate rapidly. This was absolutely the last fucking day he was going to train with him like this.

Itachi stood up and was beginning to feel re-energized as he looked forward to the challenge. Fighting Sasuke or going on missions was the only other thing that helped him take his mind off of the nightmares. Sasuke was rapidly improving after training with him so much. He could no longer hold back even the slightest bit against his little brother. If he did, Sasuke would punish him for it. He would soon become his equal and probably surpass him someday. He secretly hoped so, it was what he had always wished for his brother.

"Whatever, let's go _little brother,_" he said mockingly trying to bait him.

Sasuke saw through his tactics and smirked. "Hmpf, you're going down _big brother,_" he bragged confidently. Following Itachi out of the apartment toward the training grounds, he watched his brother's easy and confident stride as he walked and wished he wasn't so stubborn.

He just knew he was at his limit and after today he was done with this shit. One way or another he was going to get through to his brother.

* * *

Hinata woke up and glanced over to his side of the bed, and saw it was empty, as usual. Tears of pain and misery began coursing down her cheeks. She felt like she was trapped in a horrible nightmare and couldn't wake up. Her so-called 'perfect' marriage was rapidly falling apart. It wasn't that they didn't care about each other, they just couldn't communicate with one another. Whenever she tried to tell him about the baby, she couldn't get the words out and then it never seemed the right time to tell him. And when she tried to get him to talk to her about what was bothering him, he would tell her he was fine, and go train with his brother.

Hinata laid there in the cold bed and tried to go back to sleep. She felt horribly lonely without him next to her and missed all the cuddling and kissing him. They hadn't made love in over a week. In fact, he barely spoke to her at all anymore.

It frightened her how whenever he was with her he constantly kept looking at her with a desperate look in his eyes. And then almost randomly he would wrap his arms tightly around her and hold her as if she was going to be taken away from him at any moment.

When they went to bed at night he almost seemed to dread it. Hinata began crying even more. _He doesn't even want to sleep with me anymore. What happened to him? What happened to us?_.

That first month of marriage together they were so happy together and had grown so close. Even though they had been separated a lot of the time he always acted like he missed her just as much as she did him whenever he returned from a mission. He would always make love to her or hold her for hours after he came back to her.

_What caused him to change? _Hinata thought feeling confused. Nothing made sense to her anymore, if only he would tell her what was bothering him.

She rolled over on her side and picked up his pillow and hugged it close to her and inhaled slightly, it still smelled like him. She closed her eyes in misery.

_I can't lose you Itachi._

Her hand roamed over her still flat stomach and realized that both her and the baby needed him. She stared out stubbornly and tried to understand him. Deep in her heart she knew he was suffering... terribly. He wasn't sleeping at night and he was training way too much.

Something in her snapped. "Itachi needs me," she said out loud as she figured something out.

As though waking out of a trance, she snapped into action as she hurried and got dressed. While she was putting on her shoes she used her Byakugan to find him. He was over at the training grounds with his brother.

_Poor Sasuke... you are such a wonderful brother_, she thought as she closed her apartment door and set off for the training grounds.

* * *

Sasuke just barely dodged the rapid series of fireballs his brother launched at him. After fighting at this level for over two hours straight he was growing frustrated and tired. He took a few deep breaths and tried to focus so he could find a way to get past his brother's defense. Even as weary and distracted as he was, Itachi was still freaking amazing and powerful and his defense was almost impenetrable.

_I have to keep trying,_ Sasuke thought as he wiped the grimy sweat from off of his forehead.

After launching a series of fireballs at his brother Itachi stopped for a moment to catch his breath. He looked over at his brother who was across the training ground and felt his respect for him continue to grow. Sasuke was becoming a kage-level ninja and he hadn't even activated the Mangekyo Sharingan or the other jutsu he transferred to him a few months ago. He knew it was only a matter of time before it happened.

Itachi was planning to launch a genjutsu attack against his brother when he sensed his wife's chakra in the area.

_What is she doing here?_ He thought with a worried frown on his face. _I hope she is alright?_ He glanced just for a second over towards the trees to where he sensed her presence and finally gave Sasuke the opening he needed to attack.

Sasuke felt Hinata's presence as she came near the training grounds and a smile began to grow on his face. He knew his lovesick brother would not be able to resist looking her way. He watched and he waited as he felt her get closer and jump into a tree to watch them. All the while he prepared his jutsu and waited for his brother to look toward the trees and lower his guard.

Immediately after Itachi looked away from his brother for just a second, he felt himself bound by blades of lightning. The lightning stung like hell and was cutting into his skin. He looked at his brother who was holding out his hand and walking toward him with a large blade of lightning extending from his hand that was wrapped around him, trapping his arms to his sides.

Sasuke smirked. He allowed himself a slight feeling of satisfaction as he gloried in his victory for just a moment. When he looked at his brother his eyes became hard. "Listen you secretive bastard. I always wondered if things would have turned out differently for our family if you would have shared the truth with me back then, instead of making me hate you for all those years."

Itachi looked at him with surprise in his eyes. Since they had both returned to the village they had an almost unspoken agreement to leave the past behind and never speak of it. It appeared his brother still had some anger and hurt against him.

"I am not going to allow you to shut me out any longer. You and I will stay like this as long as it takes to get you to tell me what the hell is going on," Sasuke continued with hurt and anger flashing in his dark eyes.

Itachi looked away from his brother unable to bear seeing that look in his eyes. He lifted his eyes toward the trees and felt his wife's chakra was becoming increasingly anguished. The fog began to lift from him and he finally realized that he was not the only one suffering. His refusal to share his problems with his family was slowly destroying all of them.

"Fine, I'll talk," he said finally conceding defeat to his brother.

Sasuke gratefully released the lightning that was binding his brother.

Itachi looked toward the trees. "Hinata, you can come down now, we know you are up there."

Hinata had gasped in fear when she first had seen the bolts of lightning trap her husband and then she realized what Sasuke was doing. It was brilliant and probably the only way either of them was going to get him to talk. Tears of joy sprang to her eyes as she heard Itachi give in.

_Thank you Sasuke,_ Hinata thought gratefully. It figured that only another Uchiha was able to find the way to get through to him. Nothing that she had said or done had been able to work.

Hinata wiped away her tears before she jumped down from the tree. She ran to her husband and wrapped her arms around him and whispered to him emotionally. "I love you Itachi."

Itachi wrapped his arms tightly around her and buried his face in her hair. "I know you do, I'm sorry Hinata," he said before he kissed her gently and released her.

His eyes as he turned to his brother were solemn and apologetic. "Thank you Sasuke, I have been an ass."

"I know," his brother returned quietly, his eyes were filled with concern as he stared back at him.

Itachi sighed and decided to get this over with, "Have a seat both of you," he said brusquely as he sat down on the ground across from both of them.

Sasuke and Hinata sat there patiently with quiet intensity as they waited for him to speak.

Itachi sighed in a resigned manner before looking over at his brother with a slightly embarrassed look in his eyes. He hated even admitting the even the slightest bit of weakness to anyone, especially to his brother. And he knew Sasuke was probably not going to understand the whole concept of visions. After all, he was extremely logical and did not believe in anything other than cold hard facts. In fact, he used to be the same way, but all of that had changed after he woke up alive with his sight restored to him when he should have been dead.

It was because of Hinata and her dreams that he was even alive today. She found him only because she was given his exact location in her dreams months before the event even happened. It was also because of her dreams, that he was lucky enough that she fell in love with him and married him. He had no other choice but to believe that other less logical forces existed in the world. Not everything in the world could be explained with reasoning and cold hard empirical data.

"I am having nightmares, they started a week ago…. it is a vision of an attack on our village that will soon come to pass," he said quietly before looking away with a pained expression on his face.

Sasuke looked at his brother with disbelief on his face. _WTF—no way in hell am I going to believe this…..Itachi having nightmares and he is afraid of them_. Unbelievable.

However one look at his brother's pinched face and knew he was telling the truth. Besides he was beginning to realize that a lot of things never added up as to how they were found by the Leaf ninjas on the day of their fight. He looked over at Hinata who was staring at her husband calmly with complete trust on her face. She seemed to have absolutely no problems believing Itachi. It was like they shared some secret knowledge that he didn't know about.

Sasuke looked over at his brother and suddenly remembered something Itachi had told him when they were younger.

"I remember one time, when we were younger, you told me that you never dreamed, you had trained yourself not to. I never understood why you did it and I always thought you were so cool that you even had self control when you dreamed. Were you making it up back then, trying to impress me or something?" Sasuke asked his brother in an accusing voice as he pointed at him.

"No, I was not making it up. Until recently, I had not had a dream or nightmare since I was six years old," Itachi admitted quietly.

Sasuke looked at him and understood. After they had both returned to the village his brother had explained to him one of the reasons he fought so hard to protect Konoha and prevent war from breaking out was because their father had forced him to fight in the Third Shinobi Wars when he was only four years old. Sasuke was old enough now to understand that war was hell. It seemed like for most of his brother's life he has had to deal with traumatic loss and death. No wonder he never wanted to dream, he didn't particularly like it much either.

Sasuke looked at his brother and realized that he had to trust him that he was telling the truth and help him find a way to solve his problem. Now he understood why his brother went to talk to Shinpu about his problem and not to him.

_You must have not liked what Shinpu told you,_ Sasuke thought as he looked knowingly at his older brother.

"Itachi, you know I don't believe in any of that faith or mystical stuff. However, I know you are not lying to me. Tell me about your dream." Sasuke said uncomfortably trying to be helpful.

Hinata sat there quietly as the two of them talked and felt relieved. Everything was now beginning to make sense. She remembered that night how they went to bed like normal and then suddenly he woke up and was sitting on the couch in an almost catatonic state and hasn't been the same since. She looked at him and wondered why he wouldn't tell her about his dream. Then she thought about how strangely he had been acting around her lately and realized it must involve her somehow.

She touched his arm and looked at him knowingly with concern in her eyes.

"Itachi, your dreams involve me don't they?" Hinata asked him nervously as her hand unconsciously tightened around his arm. She hoped she was wrong and they weren't about her. Her hoped died a quick death when he nodded tautly and looked away from her and refused to talk about it.

Hinata closed her eyes and put her hand over her stomach and felt apprehension begin to run through her. If Itachi was this upset about these dreams they must be bad.

Itachi looked resolutely at both of them before he said, "I am not going to tell you about the dream. Instead I will show it to both of you. I recorded it with my Sharingan."

Sasuke and Hinata both agreed and nodded their consent for him to implant it into their minds.

Itachi activated his Sharingan and looked into Sasuke's eyes for just a second before the dream was implanted into his mind. Sasuke closed his eyes as the dream began to play out like a recording.

Itachi looked at Hinata with an apology in his eyes. "Are you sure you want to see this Hinata?" He asked her with a worried look on his face.

Hinata looked back at him with a stubborn glance. She needed to see it. It was the only way to help him.

"Yes."

She watched his red eyes and saw the black tomoes spin once and immediately began to see the dream. She closed her eyes and was immediately startled to see the crystal clear images of rubble, and a body partially hidden behind a rock. She felt a tremor of fear run through her when she saw her own deathly pale face and long indigo-colored hair spread out over the rocks and her blood splattered everywhere.

_Am I….dead?_ She thought horrified. She didn't have much time to think about it as she saw the massive explosion behind her body and the dream was over.

She opened her eyes in shock and looked straight into her husband's anguished onyx eyes.

Itachi grabbed her shoulders roughly as he pulled her face closer to his. "I won't let that happen to you Hinata."

Hinata didn't trust herself to speak and could only nod mutely towards him. Tears began to run down her face as she thought about their unborn baby. She needed to tell him about it.

Itachi pulled her closer to him and held her tightly against his chest.

"I can't lose you," he whispered to her harshly as he gently pushed her hair out of her eyes.

"You won't lose me Itachi. I will do everything I can to prevent that dream from happening. I promise," Hinata told him anxiously. She didn't want to die and she desperately wanted their unborn baby to survive.

Sasuke saw the desolation on his brother's face as he looked at Hinata. He knew he had to help him, by using the recorded the dream in his brain with his Sharingan he planned to keep analyzing it until he could find some clues to help prevent Hinata from being harmed.

He had figured out one thing that maybe Itachi had missed.

"I think I know the source of the explosion," he told his brother calmly. He would know that sinister orange chakra anywhere.

Itachi looked at his brother with hope filled eyes. "What is it, Sasuke?"

His brother looked at both of them before he answered. "It is chakra that belongs to the Nine Tailed Fox," Sasuke stated confidently.

Itachi and Hinata looked at him with shocked understanding as they both said out loud.

"Naruto."

Sasuke frowned and was beginning to feel worried about his team-mate. "Let's go talk to the Hokage."

They all got off of the ground and began hurrying over to her office. On the way there Sasuke told him about one other thing he had noticed.

"Itachi, as I looked over the dream I noticed the spike that was used to stab her was made of chakra."

Itachi's eyes opened in shock.

"Pain uses a jutsu like that," he said to his brother with a deep frown. _How could I have missed such an obvious clue?_

He thought about it and realized that whenever he saw the dream he had allowed his emotions to direct where he was looking. He found he had a hard time taking his eyes off of her lifeless face and was unable to analyze the dream thoroughly. It took someone else to see what was right there all the time.

Itachi held Hinata's hand tightly and pulled her closer to him. He could sense she was worried and shaken, but he knew she would do everything possible to not show it in front of him. He was beginning to realize she was a lot stronger than anyone ever gave her credit for.

[Later in the day after the meeting in the Hokage's Office]

Itachi laid on the bed as Lady Tsunade rested her hand on his forehead. She had come home with them to their apartment to perform a jutsu to help him sleep without dreaming.

"Itachi I relieve you from duty for 48 hours. You are not to train or go on missions or do anything but rest for two days. Understood?"

"Yes Lady Hokage. Would it be alright if I attend some of the security meetings?" He asked her with concerned eyes, he felt he needed to be at those meetings.

"Yes, only after you have rested. In your current state you would be no help to anyone."

Itachi nodded grimly as he happened to agree with her.

Hinata stood in the door way and watched her husband as he lie on the bed. He looked so worn down and exhausted. She watched as the Hokage performed the jutsu and his eyes closed.

Lady Tsunade turned to her. "I hope this works Hinata. I don't think I would be able to sleep either if I kept having visions like the one he has been receiving."

Hinata looked worried. "I hope it does too. Thank you for helping us my lady," she told her gratefully.

The Hokage looked at her with worried eyes.

"Hinata, you should rest also. You look exhausted and you know that you need to keep up your strength for the baby."

"I know, I have just been so worried about Itachi I haven't been able to sleep much," she explained hesitantly.

"I understand," Tsunade said as she began to walk to the door. "If this jutsu doesn't work, let me know. We will drug him if we have to," she said with a smirk on her face as she left the apartment.

"Thank you Lady Hokage," Hinata told her before she closed the door. She tiredly went into the bathroom and changed into her nightgown and brushed her teeth. After she came out of the bathroom she looked down at her husband who appeared to be sleeping peacefully and kneeled next to the bed beside him and began to pray. Several moments later she stopped before carefully climbing into the bed next to him.

Itachi woke up late in the morning the next day and realized he didn't dream at all last night. He still felt worn out, but he was able to think clearly again. He looked over at his wife as she continued to sleep and determined that she was exhausted too. He pulled her closer to him and tucked her head in the crook of his arm. His movements woke her up and she began to stir.

"Good morning. How did you sleep?" She asked him worriedly.

"I slept fine, I didn't dream at all," he told her gratefully. Hinata silently thanked god for hearing her prayers.

"I am so glad... I have been so worried about you."

Itachi's eyes began to darken with regret as he saw the pain he had caused her. "I'm sorry, I didn't want to frighten you."

"I understand. I just wish you wouldn't shut me out like that." She said tearfully hoping he would try to understand how much it hurt her when he did things like that to her.

He sighed. He had been shutting out people his whole life and he wasn't sure he would be able to change, but for her, he would try.

"Itachi, I need to tell you something. I have been waiting for almost a week to tell you, but it never seemed to be the right time to do it," she told him in a slightly nervous voice.

Itachi looked down at her cautiously and felt something clench his heart as he began to suspect what she was going to tell him.

Hinata closed her eyes because she was afraid of how he was going to take the news.

"I'm pregnant."

**Author's Note:** I am so sorry to leave you all with that horrible cliffie. I am so mean. It just seemed like a good place to stop, so I did. I have the next chapter plotted out so I will try to find the time to work on it and post it soon. Thanks so much to all of you who took time to review the last chapter. You guys are awesome.

Side note: (RANT) I heard Naruto Shippuuden is going to be shown soon on DisneyXD cable channel in the US. WTF! Disney? I heard their target market is for boys ages 10-14 for the show. Ridiculous. Shippuuden is much darker than Naruto and is not really a kids show IMO. I wonder how they are going to handle Sai and Hiden and their language. If they screw up the show too much I will just continue to watch it in Japanese with English subs. I wish it would have been released on Adult Swim like Bleach is. Whatever. I guess we will have to wait and see how it turns out.

**Update/edit:** 4/22/13.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

* * *

"I'm Pregnant."

Hinata looked up at her husband. She needed to see his reaction her words had on him. Her heart caught in her chest as she saw the fleeting glimpse of joy on his face before he placed the stoic mask back into place.

Itachi looked away from her for a moment and a heavy silence began to penetrate the room.

At his continued silence Hinata began to grow worried. Her eyes drifted slowly towards him again and watched as he cycled through his mind everything their child would mean to him.

Itachi's mind was racing after he heard her words. He was not shocked that she was pregnant. Far from it, before the dream happened he had been anticipating daily that she would tell him that she was expecting. He knew from the very beginning of their marriage she wanted children and they had never done anything to prevent it from happening.

In fact, it seemed the whole village wanted them to have children. At times, he felt like he and Hinata were some sort of lab rats in a type of crazy bloodline science experiment. Whenever he went anywhere with Hinata in public he could see the speculation in the eyes of the people around them who wondered which kekkei genkai their children would inherit. However, deep down he knew their child represented something more than just an experiment to the village. It was a source of hope and strength for the future and the restoration of the Uchiha clan.

_Hope._ The word sounded twisted in his mind. Until recently, that word was as foreign to him as love was. He felt pain and worry wash over him and almost missed the all-consuming numbness he used to feel before he met her. He used to be able to deal with pain and loss, now after allowing himself to feel again, he wasn't so sure he would be able to deal with it if it happened to him again.

He reached down slowly and placed his slightly trembling hand on her still flat abdomen and tried to keep the chilling feelings of fear from taking hold of his mind again. After he had heard her words he had felt a deep and profound joy, but it was quickly replaced by the fear of losing both of them. He opened his eyes as he felt his wife's body tense under his hand.

"I-Itachi?" Hinata asked him nervously.

He looked up at her with solemn eyes. He wasn't ready to speak yet as he tried to work through his thoughts. Hinata wrapped her arms around him as she waited for him to speak to her. Minutes went by as she listened to the sound of his even breathing.

Hinata could feel herself becoming more nervous by the minute as he had seemed to shut himself off from her. After last week of dealing with him doing that to her, she couldn't allow that to happen again. She had to keep him from retreating from her.

"Itachi, are you pleased?" She asked him tentatively. Her voice broke through the long dark tunnel of his thoughts and forced him to look at her.

"I am," he told her slowly.

Her eyes searched his and she began to smile slowly when she saw that he really was pleased. Her smiled soon disappeared when she saw the anxiety hidden deep within his eyes.

"Itachi, we are not going to die. I know it!" She told him with quiet urgency as she gripped his shoulders.

Itachi's mouth and jaw became grim and his fingers tightened slightly around her waist. "How do you know that, Hinata?"

Hinata's face softened as she looked at the worried face of her darling unapproachable husband. "Because I have dreams too, and my dreams have been showing me a wonderful future for us and our family," she told him with eyes that shimmered with unshed tears as she placed her hand on his cheek.

Itachi looked at her with a small glimmer of hope in his eyes. He had been in such a fog of despair over the past week he had forgotten about her dreams. _Her oddly prophetic dreams_.

He took a deep breath and some of the tension drained out of him. "What do your dreams show you Hinata?"

Hinata looked away from him and hugged her arms around herself. She felt a bit nervous about sharing them with him. They were very personal to her and represented all that she wanted with him as a family. A small part of her was also superstitious about sharing them because she felt if she did, then they may not happen.

She took a deep breath before she looked at him and smiled ruefully. "I started having this first dream almost immediately after the other one stopped," she told him.

He smiled slightly and moved closer to her and kissed her on the neck. "I remember," he told her as he looked at her. He grinned slightly as he remembered how he had tried to get her to tell him about it. "You wouldn't tell me what it was about either."

Hinata blushed and then laughed. "Well, we had just started dating and I just couldn't tell you at that time. "

"Well, can you tell me now?" He asked her in a more serious tone of voice.

She searched his eyes for a while before she nodded. She knew he was desperately searching for a lifeline in this situation; something that would reassure him and give him hope.

She put her hand over his and gave him an apologetic look. "I wish I could record it like you did yours in my mind and just show you. My words will never be able to do it justice."

He leaned in closer to her and looked into her eyes. "You can show it to me."

"Really?" Hinata looked at him impressed.

"Yes, if you think about the dream and allow me to enter your mind I should be able to see it using my Sharingan."

Hinata gave him a small smile thinking how incredible he was. She loved how he never bragged or showed off his abilities, he just used them only when they were needed. She was beginning to wonder what other insanely awesome abilities did he have that he was keeping from her.

Staring into his eyes she began to think about the dream. "Okay, I am ready," she told him as she watched him move closer to her and he activated his Sharingan and quickly made several fast hand-signs. She watched as the black tomoes spun around in his bright red eyes. As she kept her eyes open she could feel a slight tugging sensation in her head as he entered her mind. It only took a few moments before he deactivated his eyes and became very quiet as he began to replay the dream in his mind.

_**[Dream-mode]**_

_Itachi felt he was in a surreal place as he watched the dream. He watched everything through Hinata's eyes as she walked down the long path toward the house. He could tell in his mind in the dream that she was just coming home from a mission late at night. He could also see that she had made Jonin by the vest she was wearing. The dream appeared to be a few years into the future._

_He was amazed at how vivid, clear and realistic the dream was. The weather outside was stormy with loud thunder and flashes of lightning streaking through the sky. It seemed so real he could almost feel the wind and the rain as it blew on him. He came up to the large home near the river and unlocked the door. He didn't recognize the house but he knew it belonged to them and in the dream he knew exactly where he was going. After he went through the door he went upstairs and began walking down a long hallway until when he heard a child's voice talking, he stopped._

_"Daddy, I am scared. Can I sleep with you?" Itachi listened and was surprised when he heard his voice answer the boy._

_"Yes son, you may stay with me until the storm clears." He heard himself answer patiently. He listened closely and heard the covers being shuffled as the boy climbed into the bed._

_"Daddy, when is mommy coming home?" He heard his son ask. He felt a surge of emotion in Hinata in her dream as she began to walk towards the bedroom door. His wife was such a softy._

_"She is in the hallway." He heard himself answer his son. "Didn't you sense her presence there?"_

_His son answered calmly. "No, I was too scared of the lightning."_

_Itachi was amused at his son's answer. His answer sounded like something Hinata would say, but his tone sounded just like his. He had found out Hinata was afraid of thunder and lightning too when she was little._

_Walking around the corner and through the door, Itachi saw himself lying on the bed with his arm around his son._

_"Mommy!" He heard his son yell excitedly before he launched himself in his mother's arms. Itachi could feel all of his wife's emotions as she hugged her son._

_"I'm home. Do you want to stay with us tonight Shisui?" She asked her son patiently._

_"Yes, Daddy says I can stay until the storm clears," he told her repeating his father's words. Itachi was in awe of his little son. He looked just like he did when he was little and he could see a little bit of his brother in him. The only thing he could see of Hinata in him was his hair. It had a slight tint of indigo in it like hers. He could also tell he was another Uchiha genius in the making. The little boy was only two years old, but he was very articulate and bright for his age. He couldn't wait to start training his son!_

_Itachi watched through his wife's eyes as she lovingly tucked in their son and gave him a kiss on his cheek._

_The dream began to fade out._

He sat on the bed and tried to take it all in before looking over at his wife who had been waiting impatiently to hear his reaction to her dream.

Without speaking, Itachi leaned over and wrapped his arms around her waist and gently placed his face against her stomach. He activated his Sharingan and he could sense a small tendril of his son's chakra. He recognized it from the dream. He closed his eyes as he felt overcome with emotion. Her dream was amazing; it had allowed him to meet his little son two years in the future.

"Our son is incredible Hinata," he told her before he lightly kissed her on the stomach.

Hinata put her hands on his head and began playing with his ponytail and smiled mistily.

"I know." She said hoarsely as her voice began to choke up. "He looks and talks just like you."

Itachi nodded. "I know, but he has your hair," he told her with a small smile. "And your fear of storms."

"I know, the poor kid," she said with laughing compassion as she put her hand against her stomach.

He sat up and pulled her towards him and began kissing her hungrily. Hinata soon felt her body becoming warm and languid as he continued to kiss her and caress her body. She pulled away from him, because she wasn't finished talking to him yet. She didn't want any unresolved issues to come between them in the near future.

"Itachi, wait please," she asked him a little breathlessly as she pushed against him with her hands. Itachi looked back at her wondering why she was stopping him.

"What?" He said as he pulled her down on the bed next to him. He continued to pull her closer to him and his hands were making their way slowly down her body when she stopped him.

"Itachi, what are we going to do about your dream?"

Itachi stopped touching her immediately and ran his hands jerkily through his hair. Her words were like cold water to him.

"I don't know what we can do. I just know we have to get ready for an attack on Konoha and somehow keep you and the baby from getting hurt," he told her worriedly. His hands almost unconsciously began to rub her stomach.

Hinata frowned for a minute and tried to think of how they needed to handle the situation.

She was beginning to understand why Kami gave her the dreams. It was to give her hope. There was one other dream she wanted to show Itachi, but she would tell him about it later.

"Itachi, maybe we should go see Shinpu. It might do both of us good to talk to him and see what he thinks about everything?"

Itachi looked away from her with an almost disgusted look on his face. He did not like the advice the priest had given him at all.

"Sasuke and I already visited him recently. I saw him the day after I had the dream about you," he said with a tone letting her know he didn't want to discuss it anymore.

Hinata ignored his unspoken wish for her stop talking. "What advice did Shinpu give you?"

Itachi released an annoyed sigh and looked over at her. "He told me he believed the dream was a premonition about Konoha and he told me he during the attack, I may have to make a choice between saving you or helping to save the village."

Hinata sat up all the way and looked back at him seriously with resolute eyes. "If that is the case, then you must promise me you will put the village first. Konoha needs you. I will be fine."

Itachi closed his eyes painfully. He knew all too well what it was like to have to make that choice. He dreaded ever having to make it again. He opened his eyes and saw in her eyes he had no choice but to do as she wanted him to do.

He released a sigh. "I promise I will put the village first."

"I'm sorry Itachi," Hinata told him emotionally as wrapped her arms around him and just held onto him. Several moments passed and they fell asleep tangled in each other's arms.

A few hours later Hinata woke up when she heard a songbird chirping outside their bedroom window. She could see a bit of sunshine coming through the top of the heavy curtains and could tell it was going to be a beautiful, but slightly chilly day.

Itachi woke up when he felt her move and realized that he didn't have the dream again. He was relieved that it appeared to have stopped. He didn't feel like there was much more he could learn from it anyway, watching it anymore would just be unnecessary torture to him.

"Itachi, it's almost noon, we should get up," Hinata said to him lazily as she stretched her arms out above her head. The Hokage had given her the day off too, because she was equally exhausted.

Itachi felt a little rested but he still felt he could sleep the rest of the day easily with no problems. He pulled his wife on top of him making his intentions clear he wanted to stay where he was—at least for a little while longer.

"We'll get up in a little bit," he told her with a lazy grin and began to pull her head down toward his.

She smiled when she saw that he was beginning to relax and that horrible desperate energy and tension he had about him was beginning to dissipate. Hinata looked into her husband's heavy lidded eyes and agreed with him that staying in bed a little longer was a good idea.

There was still a feeling of dread hanging over both of them for what was to come in the future. They both knew an attack on Konoha was probably going to happen soon but for today at least, they were going to try to relax and shut the feeling out.

* * *

Later in the afternoon, they were sitting under their favorite tree near the training grounds, eating lunch. Hinata had packed an enormous picnic basket full of food for them and they were steadily making inroads through it as they were watching the ducks swim around the lake.

After they finished eating they leaned up against the tree and held hands in contented silence. They were just enjoying the nice weather and being near one another. Itachi thought about the dream and nudged Hinata who beginning to nod off sleepily after eating such a huge lunch.

"Hinata, that house in the dream. Do you recognize it?" He asked, interrupting her rest.

Hinata rubbed her eyes with her hand before she answered him with a slight smile on her face as if she remembered something that was lovely from her past.

"Yes, I do. It belonged to my mother. It was her sanctuary from the clan. It had belonged to her family before she married my father. Before she died, she used to take me with her there and we would take long walks down by the river. I remember in the yard there was a swing hanging from an old oak tree. She used to push me in it... at least she did before she became ill," Hinata said sadly as she thought about her beloved mother.

Itachi picked up her hand and held it, talking about her mother always made her sad.

Hinata looked at him as an idea suddenly occurred to her. "Do you want to go see it? It is not too far from here."

His curiosity was piqued; he wanted to see if it looked like it did in the dream. "Yes, I would like to see it," he told her as he stood up and helped her up off the ground.

A few minutes later, Itachi looked up at the large two-story house and could see it was the same house from the dream. He saw the same long walk up to the front door and he also looked over to the side and saw the large oak tree and swing Hinata had told him about.

Hinata pointed to a few neighboring houses.

"Those houses belong to my family too. They are empty right now with only caretakers in them. We only use them when we have visitors from other lands. My father does not trust ninjas from other countries to stay at the compound because when I was little I was almost kidnapped by a representative from the Cloud who wanted to steal my eyes," she explained to him as a small shiver passed over her at the memory.

Itachi looked at her and felt anger on her behalf. "I remember hearing about that happening. It almost started a war between us and the Cloud."

Hinata nodded. "My father recovered me from the kidnapper and ended up killing him. My uncle, Neji's father, ended up dying in my father's place as the Cloud demanded reparations for their representative being killed," Hinata explained with haunted eyes as the memory was still painful to her.

Itachi shook his head in disgust. "That representative deserved what he got for trying to kidnap you. No one should have ended up dying for him."

Hinata agreed. The whole incident had been tragic for her family and especially her uncle and cousin. She always wondered if her father had held it against her. Her eyes darkened with sadness as she thought about her clan and her father. She had only been over there a few times since she had left home and had only had lunch with her sister and cousin. Her father was never around when she had visited the compound.

"Come on Hinata, let's go home," Itachi told her as he put his hand in the crook of her arm and began to lead her back to their apartment.

When they arrived back home they saw a messenger from Hinata's father was waiting for them by their door. He bowed respectfully towards them as he handed Hinata a large sealed envelope from her father.

"Hinata-sama, your father wishes me to wait while you give him a reply," he told her and began to stand by the door.

Itachi opened the door and they walked inside.

"Akio, please come in and have something to drink," Hinata offered to him graciously before adding, "I will give you a reply shortly."

Akio came inside and took a seat at their kitchen table while Hinata poured him a drink and gave him a large plate of food.

"Thank you Hinata-sama," the branch member said gratefully.

Hinata and Itachi went into the living room and opened up the envelope. Itachi already knew what was in it before they even opened it. Her bastard of a father, was trying to get back into her life again.

Inside the envelope was an elegantly hand written letter from her father asking her and her new husband to dine with him and Hanabi tomorrow night. He did not apologize to her, but he came close as he mentioned her presence was missed by all of the family. He also mentioned he planned to invite her cousin, Neji, as well.

Hinata looked at the letter pensively. She was not sure what to think about her father, but she really missed her sister and being part of her clan. She had been involved heavily in taking care of the branch family members ever since she was little when her mother died and had passed her duties onto her.

"I am going to go tomorrow night," she told him softly.

Itachi looked at her with a knowing look on his face. "I knew you were going to say yes."

Hinata nodded. "I miss my clan, Itachi. I am still angry at what my father tried to do to me, but I need to be part of my sister's life and watch over her."

"I understand and I will go with you. I still don't trust your father," he said her as he looked at the invitation with skeptical eyes.

Hinata smiled at his protectiveness over her. She knew her father was afraid of Itachi...there was no way he would try to do anything to her while he was around.

She hastily wrote a reply to her father and gave it to Akio.

"Please give this to my father and tell him we will be there tomorrow night."

Akio took the envelope from her with a slight bow. "Thank you for the food Hinata-sama. I will relay your message to your father."

Itachi looked over at his sweet and forgiving wife and decided he was going to have a talk with his father in law tomorrow night.

**Author's Note:** This is really not a cliffie, so please do not get mad at me. I hope all you like this chapter. I usually am never satisfied with what I write but I have to say I enjoyed writing this chapter a lot. I think it would be wonderful to have a dream like she did and see your future child. I loved writing Itachi's reaction to it. Anyway, please let me know what you think about this chapter. I tried to get it out quickly because I ended the other one so suddenly:)

**Edited:** 4/22/13


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

* * *

Hiashi took a drink of his morning tea and stared at the papers on his desk with a look of irritated frustration on his haughty face.

"Petty clan disputes, bake sales, birthday parties, dental appointments, clan training schedules." He read each of the titles of the papers in front of him with affronted disgust in his voice as if dealing with each of these issues were completely beneath him.

"Damn it," Hiashi complained under his breath.

He thought back to when Hinata was still living with the clan how she handled all of these things flawlessly. She had taken over almost immediately after her mother had died. When she wasn't available, then Neji helped out. He was beginning to realize (belatedly) just how important the two of them were to keeping the clan functioning like a well oiled machine. The two of them handled practically all of the day to day business of running the clan and had left all of the difficult and important type of decisions to him and the clan elders. When they had been around, he never had to deal with these kinds of issues.

He put all of the papers and requests in a pile and sat back in his chair with a satisfied look on his face. After tonight he wouldn't have to worry about any of this anymore. Hinata and Neji would be back helping him and he could get back to the more important matter of training his daughter and heir.

* * *

Itachi could hear his wife throwing up through the door. He tried to open the bathroom door and found it was locked.

"Hinata, can I get you anything?" He offered through the door, trying to be helpful.

Hinata was utterly embarrassed by her current predicament and did not want him around her while she was getting sick...at all.

"P-please, j-just go away," she told him weakly before another wave of nausea hit her and she leaned over the toilet again and began to retch some more.

Itachi looked at the door and smirked slightly thinking how foolish she was being, as if something like that would bother him. He shrugged his shoulders and finished getting dressed.

A few minutes later he heard her unlock the door and begin to brush her teeth. Then he heard her turn on the shower and get inside. He opened the door and turned on the water in the sink and began to brush his teeth.

"Do you feel better now?" He asked her as he looked at her in the mirror through the glass shower doors.

"Yes," she replied simply, hoping he would just finish getting ready and leave her alone for a bit. Ever since yesterday when she told him about the baby he had been by her side and hovering over her constantly. As much as she loved having him near her she was beginning to get slightly annoyed with him.

"Do you get sick like this every morning?" He asked her. Usually he left before she even got up so he was curious.

Hinata sighed before she answered patiently. "I don't get sick every day; it is more like every other day."

She finished rinsing off her hair and turned off the shower. As she stepped out onto the floor matt he handed her a towel. As she began drying herself off, he leaned over and gently kissed her neck and shoulder. All thoughts of being irritated with him slipped away as she began to melt toward him. He was being so nice to her, how could she get mad at him.

He pulled away from her and looked at her firmly before he asked.

"What are your plans for today?"

Hinata looked away from him a little uncomfortably; she had a feeling he wasn't going to like what she wanted to do. "I am going training this morning with my team and then in the afternoon, I have a check up with the Hokage for the baby."

Itachi frowned slightly as he looked at her still slim body. He did not like the idea of her training, now that she was pregnant. "How much longer do you plan to stay activated as a ninja and train and go on missions, Hinata?"

Hinata looked thoughtful for a moment before she left the bathroom and went into their room and began to find some training clothes to wear.

He watched her closely and knew she was evading him and so he went and sat on the bed and waited patiently for her to answer him.

"Itachi, I am not sure. I guess when I get too big and can't move very well that is when I will probably volunteer to go help at the academy or something like that," she told him softly when she finally answered him.

Itachi's eyes darkened slightly. He was hoping she would inactivate herself immediately, not months down the road. He looked at her stubborn chin and read her body language, and could tell she had made up her mind.

"Three months and then you will need to go on light duty." He told her firmly, thinking he was being very fair and reasonable. After all, he was just trying to keep her and the baby safe. His own mother stopped being a ninja altogether after she married his father.

Hinata looked at him and was beginning feel a glimmer of anger toward him. She was beginning to feel like she traded in one tyrant (her father) for another. She was also starting to suspect that her husband was a bit of a control freak. Being obsessively tidy and organized weren't his only issues apparently. A small breath escaped her as she decided she needed to handle this carefully or he was going to end up taking complete control of everything she did for the next eight months.

She sat next to him on the bed and gave him a look as she laid her hands gently on his arm. It was the kind of look that all women are instinctively born with and know how to use when they need to get their way. Itachi looked back at her warily, knowing exactly what she was doing. He remembered seeing his mother give his father the same look when she wanted something from him. Feeling slightly impressed with his timid wife for standing up for herself, he smiled back at her shrewdly. Too bad she chose to do it against him, because it wasn't going to work.

"I will inactivate myself after five months," she told him firmly. She was deliberately going higher than she planned knowing that he wouldn't go for it and would probably say four months. That way he would think it was his idea and that he was compromising with her. She smiled secretly to herself thinking she had outmaneuvered him.

"Three months and I don't want you training with your family until after the baby is born," he countered flatly. His expression telling her he thought he was being more than fair. He gave her a small glance that told her he was on to her game the whole time.

Hinata looked at him with slightly narrowed eyes and almost swore. He was being completely unreasonable about this. She examined him closely along with his body language and could tell he wasn't going to budge on this one. She decided she needed help from someone with experience, someone who could back her up.

"I will discuss this issue with Lady Tsunade when I see her this afternoon," she said trying to compromise with him and head off an argument.

"Fine, I will come with you," he told her calmly before picking up some stray kunai knives that were lying next to the bed. He automatically put them back where they belonged in a drawer he had in his dresser.

Hinata looked at him slightly exasperated. She wasn't super angry with him, but she was definitely becoming annoyed with him. After all they had been through lately, part of her was just happy he was noticing her again. She watched as he came over and gave her a small peck on the cheek as he was getting ready to leave for a meeting.

He had her so confused and irritated she didn't know whether to laugh at him for behaving like such a mother hen over her or yell at him for trying to control her. She just shook her head and realized that being married wasn't as easy as she thought it would be.

Itachi looked at her and knew his controlling behavior was beginning to upset her. His jaw began to tense up as he picked up a notepad to take with him to the security meeting he was attending this morning. She had to realize he was only acting like this because he was so worried about her. Just because he wasn't having those dreams any longer it didn't mean that the possibility of her death wasn't still very real.

He walked with her as she went into the kitchen and watched as she began to daintily eat the crackers and the drink the soda water he put out for her. He was putting on his shoes and just about to open the door when her voice stopped him.

"Thank you Itachi," Hinata said softly with a reluctant smile as she gestured toward the crackers and soda water. She wanted to get mad at him but he kept being so thoughtful and nice towards her.

"Do you want to meet me for lunch near the teriyaki stand? After we eat, we can go to my appointment," she asked him quietly trying to ease the tension between them.

"I will be finished with my meeting around noon," he told her before he left the apartment.

When he got outside his door he saw his brother was waiting for him. As he began to walk toward the stairs that led to the street, Sasuke automatically began to follow him. Sasuke was surprised when he saw Itachi begin to make hand-signs and a shadow clone appeared next to his brother. He rolled his eyes when he saw his brother give the clone orders to follow and protect Hinata and to make sure she didn't see him. He watched as it silently slipped away and hid himself around the corner.

"Tch, getting a little paranoid are you?" Sasuke asked his brother with a smirk.

Itachi just ignored him and began to walk down the stairs toward the street. He was going to do what he thought was necessary in order to keep his wife safe.

"I think she can take care of herself." Sasuke said quietly to himself as he followed his brother down the stairs.

_I'm not willing to take that chance brother,_ Itachi answered grimly in his mind as his hand clenched tightly around the pad of paper in his pocket.

* * *

Hinata's stomach still felt a little queasy but she decided she needed to train anyway. After all, the Hokage needed every ninja she could get. She grabbed a canteen of water and closed the apartment door behind her. It had been a while since she had trained with her team-mates and she was eager to see them again.

On the way to the training field she kept getting a strange feeling like someone was following her. She finally activated her Byakugan and she saw him in a tree about fifty feet behind her. She saw by his chakra that it was one of her husband's clones.

_Itachi, you are becoming insane!_ She was feeling a little like laughing and crying at the same time. He was beginning to drive her so crazy. Her pregnancy hormones began to kick in along with her frustration at him and she began to laugh hysterically to herself as she walked toward the training grounds.

Kurenai watched her almost grown up student with pride as she began to walk towards the training ground. She did a double take and looked again when she saw Hinata was acting uncharacteristically strange and was laughing almost insanely to herself.

Her lip curled up in amusement... she knew _exactly_ what Hinata was going through.

A few moments later Hinata had calmed down and quietly set her back pack down by Kiba and Shino's gear.

Without a word, Kurenai walked up to her favorite student and grabbed her in a huge motherly hug. Hinata breathed a sigh of relief when she realized Kurenai understood exactly all of the emotions she was going through. Kurenai had given birth to her baby about two months ago.

Hinata began to sob as she held onto her dear Kurenai-sensei.

"You're going to have a baby aren't you?"

Hinata smiled slightly before she answered her tearfully.

"Y-yes."

"Congratulations?" Her sensei asked her with a slightly worried look in her eyes, she wasn't sure if Hinata was happy about the baby or not.

Hinata stepped away and sniffled slightly and wiped her eyes with her hands.

"Thank you, Itachi and I are really happy about the baby." She told her brightly as she looked away so her teacher wouldn't get worried about her.

There was no way she was going to tell anyone about his or her dreams. Itachi had told the Hokage so she could alert security but they felt that it was something that needed to be kept between themselves.

Kurenai looked at her student and waited for her to tell her what was bothering her. Hinata pointed toward the trees about fifty yards away.

"My husband has a shadow clone following me," she finally told her teacher in an exasperated voice.

Kiba and Shino had just joined them and looked into the distance. Both of them already knew the clone was there.

"Do you want us to deal with it?" Kiba asked her excitedly as he gave sideways glance toward Shino.

Hinata shook her head. "No, we will just have to pretend it is not there," he said as she made up her mind. She decided that was the best way of dealing with Itachi's over protectiveness or he might begin to take even more drastic measures to keep her safe, like coming to practice himself or going on missions with her. A small shudder passed over her at the thought.

Her team-mates looked at her for a long moment before they just shrugged and began to train. Kurenai looked at her with an approving look in her eyes as she watched Hinata walk towards the center of the training grounds.

"Smart choice, Hinata," she said to herself as she began to walk towards her students.

Itachi was standing near a wall by the teriyaki stand when out of the corner of his eye a Kunai was coming straight at him towards his head. He dodged it instinctively and automatically pulled a Kunai out and was in ready position to fight instantly. He looked next to his head and saw the Kunai was sticking out of the wall.

He relaxed when he saw his wife was coming toward him. He looked at her face and realized she was a little irate with him. As she came closer to him he glanced at the kunai knife sticking out of the wall near his head and then back into her frustrated eyes.

Hinata's lips drew together tightly before she looked back at him with a rueful grin. She was still shocked that she did something like that. She chose to blame it on those crazy pregnancy hormones again.

"I had to make sure you were the real Itachi, I thought for a moment you were a clone," she told him as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Itachi disregarded the fact that they were in public as he pulled her tightly to him. She yelped slightly as he dragged her into the alley nearby and kissed her hard and desperately.

Hinata was breathing hard as she put her face in the crook of his neck. She looked up at him and sighed. _What am I going to do with you Itachi?_ She asked herself and him silently. Her heart answered the question for her, j_ust love him_. Her arms wrapped even tighter around him.

"Itachi, I am a ninja and can take care of myself." She told him patiently as she looked up at him and her eyes pleaded with him to understand. She watched as his eyes softened slightly as he looked at her before they became hard with determination.

Itachi's hands gripped her shoulders tensely for a moment before he saw what he was doing and he loosened them.

"I will do what I have to in order to protect you Hinata," he told her in a distant voice that sent chills down her spine. Hinata saw his eyes had an unyielding look of resolve in them that scared the hell out of her.

Hinata looked away from him; knowing there was no way she was going to be able to reason with him when he began to act this way. Almost unconsciously she began to shrink away from him as the look on his face began to remind her he used to be a member of Akatsuki.

"I promise I will be careful Itachi," she told him softly as she cautiously put her hand in his. He continued to stare moodily out in the distance.

"Besides, I am starving."

Itachi immediately looked at her with concern and began to pull her toward the teriyaki stand.

Hinata's eyes darkened with worry as she released a deep breath. She had a feeling it was going to be a long eight months for both of them.

* * *

Tsunade looked at the young couple as they entered her office and could tell something was wrong. Ever since she found out Hinata was pregnant she decided that she would personally oversee every aspect of her pregnancy. This baby had immense potential and could possibly end up with two very powerful kekkei genkai. She wasn't going to take any chances of something happening to it.

After she greeted them, she began to examine Hinata and was very pleased. "Hinata your over-all health is excellent," she told her with a smile. Her grin became larger when she saw Hinata look at her husband with eyes that clearly told him, "See I told you so."

Itachi shrugged his shoulders slightly and continued to look at the Hokage.

Lady Tsunade put her face closer towards Hinata's stomach and made her hands glow with chakra. She could feel the baby's chakra and was amazed at how strong it was already at a month old. Tsunade began to do cartwheels in her mind but she forced herself to calm down as she looked at the young couple in front of her.

"Your baby is doing very well and has exceptionally strong chakra for a one month old," she said to them with a large smile on her face.

For a brief moment Itachi looked a little smug as he looked at his wife's stomach, his boy was going to be something special. He quickly schooled his face in his normal emotionless mask.

Hinata smiled a little secretly to herself. She was hoping the Hokage would be on her side and allow her to stay activated as a ninja for as long as she wanted to.

"Lady Tsunade, how long will I be able to be active as a ninja?" She asked her politely and nervously.

Tsunade looked at both of them and saw how tense they both were and could tell that this was the problem that was bothering them. She suspected Itachi was trying to get her to stop training and going on missions immediately and Hinata wanted to keep doing it.

"Hinata, our normal policy is for a female ninja to be inactivated and serve in areas that do not require combat up until the baby is born. Usually, that policy is implemented after the fourth month. However, in your case I am going to make it three," the Hokage said firmly.

Hinata looked at her with big eyes. She had been hoping the Hokage would be on her side. "Why are you making me quit so soon? Kurenai-sensei served up until her fifth month, if I remember correctly," Hinata stated with a small frown trying to make a point.

"Hinata, Kurenai was kept from going on missions after her fourth month. I allowed her an extra month to continue to oversee your team for personal reasons."

Hinata looked cast down. She didn't want to put her baby or team-mates in any danger she just wanted to continue to serve her village.

"Hinata, I have to make an exception in your case because of your family history. As you know your mother had a very difficult time with the pregnancies she had. You may not be aware of this but she lost a baby boy before she ended up delivering you."

Hinata sat there alarmed and didn't want her to talk about her mother. Lady Tsunade was only going to make things worse for her. Hearing things like this were only going to send her already insanely worried husband over the edge. Hinata's eyes desperately pleaded with her to stop talking about her mother.

The Hokage got the message, but it was too late as the damage was already done. She looked over at Itachi and could see he looked normal except for the tightness of his jaw.

_Oops,_ Lady Tsunade thought to herself as she looked over at Hinata who was unusually tense and worried looking. She sighed as she realized she needed to do some damage control quickly.

"Itachi, Hinata's mother was much more delicate and fragile than she is. Hinata is exceptionally fit and strong and should not have the same problems her mother did. I am just being cautious and making sure everything goes smoothly for her delivery," Lady Tsunade said patiently and calmly.

She looked a little relieved when Itachi relaxed slightly.

"I understand. I will see that she takes care of herself," he told her calmly.

Hinata's eyes opened wide in alarm. _Oh no! Not good, not good_.

Lady Tsunade nodded at him and then looked apologetically at Hinata.

"Good, Hinata, I want to see you back here in one month," she told her in a professional voice before she left the office.

A taut silence fell over them as they were each upset.

"Why didn't you tell me about your mother Hinata?" He finally asked her in a tight voice.

Hinata sighed and said truthfully. "I honestly never thought about it. As the Hokage said, my mother was much more fragile and delicate than I am. Plus before she died she had gotten very sick and was very weak when Hanabi was born."

"I wasn't trying to keep it from you, I promise," she added softly. Suddenly, she was feeling very weary.

Itachi sighed. He too was becoming weary of all of the emotions and he could tell he was stressing her out by acting so worried about her.

"Come on, let's go home. You look tired," he told her as he took hold of her hand and picked up her backpack with his other hand.

They walked silently out of the room and began to walk home.

After they returned home, Hinata immediately settled herself on the bed. Itachi lay down beside her silently and they both tried to fall asleep.

Hinata was tired—dead tired, but she couldn't fall asleep and leave things the way they were between them. She had to find a way to fix this problem.

"Um, Itachi?" She began nervously. "Are you mad at me?" She asked as she looked at him with worried eyes.

Itachi sighed tiredly. "No, are you mad at me?" .

She took a deep breath as she smiled in frustration. "No, you are just driving me crazy," she told him honestly as she snuggled closer to him.

Itachi completely understood, but he had to keep her safe. He pulled her closer to him and tucked her head against his chest.

His wife held him and closed her eyes as she thought about just how much she adored him. She had to find some way to keep him from worrying about her so much.

"Itachi, would it help you feel better about me training and going on missions if I allowed you to send a shadow clone with me?" She asked him tentatively.

Itachi felt some of the tension drain out of him as he saw how she was trying to compromise with him. "Yes, unless you prefer I come along with you," he told her trying to lighten the mood.

Hinata began to laugh and sat up and looked down at him with relief in her eyes. "No, that's okay. A shadow clone will be more than enough," she said as she laid back down next to him and tried to go to sleep. A small smile slid over her face as she knew they were going to be alright, they were going to get through this.

**Author's Note:** The meeting with Hinata's father will have to wait until next chapter; it will tie in really good with the plot so it is all good. Something major is going to happen in the next chapter. I can't wait!

Also, I started a new story called Itachi's Ghost. It is a Sasuhina, but right now it is Itahina. It is where Itachi comes back as a ghost and recruits Hinata (after chapter 437 in the manga) to help him save his brother from the darkness. I have posted 3 chapters already and so far it is going really well. Anyway, I am going to finish this one soon and Beach Interlude eventually and then focus on my new one. Thanks so much for sticking with me.

**Edited:** 4/23/13


	24. Chapter 24

**Dreams That Became Reality**

**Chapter 24**

**"Dinner With Father"**

**AN:** I am sorry it took me so long to update this one. I had a bit of writer's block to work through. I hope some of you who have left me reviews in the past are still interested… anyway, I lightened things up a bit in this one, I hope you like it.

* * *

The branch member's face was wreathed with smiles as the visitors approached the gate. He bowed low before all three of them as he greeted them.

"Welcome Hinata-sama, Uchiha-sama," he said to the married couple before turning to Neji. "Welcome Neji-sama—Hiashi-sama is expecting all of you."

Hinata had been home a few times since she left and she was grateful her father had given in and allowed her to come back. Her clan needed her. Tonight will be the first time she has spoken to him since she left home and got married.

Glancing around at the compound, she began to notice there were tufts of grass coming up through the walkway and the flower beds were not weeded. Signs of neglect were beginning to crop up all around where there used to be manicured perfection. She turned to Neji and with a glance he told her he noticed it too. They both smiled a little smugly. Apparently, the branch members were silently protesting their banishment from the clan and judging by their invitation here today, it looked like they were winning.

Hinata turned to her over-protective husband with slightly pleading eyes. "Please, let me handle my father by myself. I want to show him he can't push me around anymore..okay."

Itachi 's face was neutral as he shrugged. "Fine." _But I won't let him be disrespectful towards you._

Hinata nodded in understanding as she read the silent message in his eyes. Her father would be very foolish to ignore the warning her husband had given him before.

Suddenly a dark-haired blur came barreling down the path toward her with her arms open wide. Itachi and Neji automatically stepped in front of Hinata out of instinct and blocked her path. Itachi reached out and put his hand on her forehead and kept his little sister-in-law from running into his wife.

Hanabi stopped suddenly with confusion in her eyes. She always greeted her sister like that—why were they stopping her?

"Hanabi, your manners have not improved since we have left," Neji remarked with disapproval evident in his voice.

She ignored him and shook off Itachi's hand off of her forehead and looked at her new brother in law with irritation flashing in her large white eyes.

"You are not to do that any longer," Itachi warned her calmly.

Hinata looking at her over-protective husband and cousin realized it was going to be a long eight months as she sighed in exasperation. Seeing her baby sister's eyes begin to narrow, she stepped forward to prevent the inevitable fireworks from occurring.

"Hanabi," her tone chided her gently as she wrapped her arms soothingly around her little sister.

"Sis, what is wrong with them? They act like you are some sort of delicate princess or something. You are a ninja, for kami's sake," she grumbled to her sister irritably with hands on her hips.

Hinata smiled at her husband and cousin with a look in her eyes that clearly said. _See, I told you so._

Neji and Itachi looked away from her with almost identical stoic looks on their faces and basically pretended not to notice the look she gave them. Hinata sighed with amused resignation when she realized she was fighting a battle with them that she wasn't going to win.

Kneeling in front of her sister, her face was glowing as she shared her happy news. "Hanabi, they are acting like that, because I am going to have baby."

A slow grin spread over Hanabi's mouth as she thought about how she was going to be an aunt. "Awesome! Do you mind if I look at it?" She said in a loud and happy voice.

At Hinata's nod she activated her Byakugan.

After looking at the tiny baby in her sister's womb she was amazed at the amount of chakra the baby already contained. _Whoa! That kid is going to be a freaking powerful ninja… I can't wait to see it. _Hanabi thought to herself excitedly. "I am going to be the best aunt ever," she promised her sister.

A small smile tugged at the corner of Hinata's mouth at her baby sister's reaction. It was good to see her like that, Hinata thought gratefully. Since she had left home, she knew her sister had been lonely and missed her and Neji a great deal.

"Hanabi, please don't tell father about the baby. I would like to do it."

Looking a little disappointed at not being able to share her sister's news, Hanabi nodded. She quickly got over it as they continued to walk toward the house. She gestured to the grounds of the compound mischievously with a smug smile playing over face.

"Do you guys notice anything different about the compound?"

Hinata and Neji rolled their eyes at each other as they both realized they should have known she was the one behind the rebellion of the branch family members.

Hanabi giggled happily. "Isn't it great?" She said with a self satisfied grin on her face.

"Right after both of you left, a lot of clan members were very angry with father for the way he treated both of you, so I convinced them to get back at him. After all, he cannot punish the whole clan can he?"

Hinata shared an amused smile with her cousin and husband at her antics.

Hanabi looked up at all of them as her face glowed with mischief. "It has been a lot of fun to see father having to deal with birthday parties and petty clan disputes. And the cooks have been taking turns burning his food and serving him cold tea. It has been hard for me to keep a straight face at meals."

Hinata shook her head and muffled a laugh and tried to look disapproving at her sister but was unable to pull it off.

"Hanabi!" She said with outraged laughter brimming over as she shared another look with her husband. Gazing silently at her bratty and confident, little sister, she realized she was going to make an excellent clan leader. A far better one than she would have. Hanabi was absolutely fearless; there wasn't anything she wouldn't try once she set her mind to do something.

Reaching down and ruffling her sister's hair, Hinata looked at her with gratitude shining in her eyes. She knew she was partially responsible for her father allowing them back into the clan.

"Arigato Hanabi."

Neji looked at his cousins as Hanabi hugged her sister. They looked like they were going to begin crying and laughing at the same time and he decided to get everyone moving or Hiashi-sama was going to get upset. He had a feeling dinner was going to prove to be interesting.

* * *

"Good evening father," Hinata said formally as she bowed low before him in respect.

Standing next to her Itachi bowed slightly showing only the bare minimum of respect for his estranged father in-law. "Hiashi-sama."

Hiashi inclined his head benevolently in welcome to all of them, graciously ignoring the slight his son in law made to him and bade them to sit down with an elegant gesture of his hand.

Calculating eyes looked over his eldest daughter as she sat next to her new husband and he felt a slight twinge of conscious at how he treated her. However, all thoughts of conscience were removed from his mind when he thought of how she could have been married to the Diamyo's son and been a princess.

_Foolish girl._

Hiashi looked away in irritation as he considered the man she married. While he recognized that the Uchiha was enormously strong with an excellent background and a powerful bloodline. He had a difficult time overlooking the fact that he had also been a criminal and an S-ranked ninja for years. It_ figures,_ he thought to himself, his pathetically, soft-hearted daughter _would_ choose such a man to marry.

Looking over at her with a slight sneer on his face; he thought about where she was living, _In an apartment-unacceptable._ His mouth turned down severely in distaste. It irked him enormously that his daughter and nephew were living in such an intolerable place, their place was at home.

Hiashi nodded silently toward the branch family members letting them know they could begin serving dinner. His lips tightened a fraction as he remembered the disgusting dinner that was served to him last night. Glancing suspiciously at his youngest daughter who was looking demurely down at her dinner plate he began to wonder if she was behind it.

He shook his head in denial, not wanting to believe his perfect daughter could be capable of such a thing. In his eyes she could do no wrong, she was everything that his eldest daughter was not.

Hanabi sat at the table with her eyes glued demurely to her plate. She had felt her father's eyes on her and was doing her very best to appear innocent. It was hard though, considering the plans she had for the evening. She took a small breath and tried to keep from laughing out loud.

Dinner was served.

Hiashi looked at his dinner with approval. For once it looked like it was prepared perfectly. Lately the food coming from the kitchen has been extremely unpalatable. He had talked to the cooking staff several times over the past few weeks and they kept coming up with intolerable and ridiculous excuses for why it kept happening.

The succulent lobster on his plate was surrounded by tasty looking rice and vegetables. Looking around smugly at his family at the table he felt all was right in his world again, now that Hinata and Neji were back, things would be just like it used to be, before they left.

He picked up his wine glass to take a sip when the stem broke off in his hand splashing the dark red contents all over his plate and the pristine white table cloth.

Eyes narrowing dangerously toward the servants he determined someone was going to pay for this incident. He watched with some satisfaction as a few of the branch members scurried into the kitchen wringing their hands in fear.

Hiashi wiped his hands on a napkin smoothly and appeared to be unruffled. Raising his hand silently, he signaled to a branch member to bring him a new plate of food and clean up the mess.

Seeing the the dark red wine dripping from her father's plate Hanabi's shoulders began to shake. She quickly covered it up by pretending to choke on her tea. Neji kicked her slightly under the table warning her to knock it off.

Ignoring her cousin's warning to behave she looked over at her father with innocent looking eyes. "It is a shame about your dinner, father. The lobster is very delicious," she said sweetly, while lifting up her white napkin to her lips to hide her smile.

Hiashi's face became stony as the branch members cleaned up the spilled wine from in front of him and set a new plate of food before him. On the plate was a charred-looking chicken breast with some soggy looking vegetables and plain white rice.

The branch member who served his food quaked under his censorious gaze.

"Hiashi-sama, this…is all that is left. C-cook…did not prepare any more lobster for your dinner. We…are very sorry." He said nervously while bowing low several times before hastily backing away as if he thought his master was going to activate the caged-bird seal against him at any moment.

Hinata, holding back a laugh, took pity on her father by quietly offering her plate to him. "Here f-father, you may have mine. I am not very hungry."

"No thank you," her father replied in a clipped voice.

Recognizing that voice from her childhood Hinata sank in her seat feeling chastised. She nervously took a bite of her succulent dinner and it tasted like sawdust.

Hiashi felt a hard stare on him and reluctantly looked over at his son-in-law and saw the clear warning in his eyes. He swallowed slightly before amending his tone of voice. "Er...thank you Hinata, this will be fine," he spoke in a more kindly manner as his eyes darted nervously toward the Uchiha.

Hinata sat up straighter and smiled slightly at the change in her father's tone and began eating her dinner which was beginning to taste better by the minute.

Sitting right next to her, her husband looked down at his plate and continued to eat his meal.

Dinner continued in silence as Hiashi sawed through his charred piece of chicken. His anger was further fueled when he took a bite of it and found it was very heavily salted. He glared again at the servants, and was planning to come down hard on them after Neji and Hinata left.

Hiashi's mood improved somewhat when he saw the branch member carrying over his favorite dessert.

Flaming Baked Alaska. (Chocolate ice cream dessert with meringue baked over the top of it.)

He watched as the branch member took the torch to the dessert, setting it on fire and began carrying it towards the table. He was still hungry after that disgusting dinner they served to him, so he was planning to eat a large piece of it.

"Father, I need to ask you something?" Hanabi said quickly as the servant moved closer to the table.

"Yes daughter?" Hiashi asked with a frown as he turned her way and a raised eyebrow. His look told her he would see her after dinner for breaking the rules, she knew she was not allowed to speak to him at the dinner table.

As he waited for her to ask her question he felt something squishy land on his lap and his eyes opened up in horror as the front of his robe caught on fire. He began swatting it angrily with his napkin.

Hanabi, valiantly choked back a laugh as she stood up quickly and poured the contents of her water glass in her father's lap trying to put out the flames.

"Ahh..." Hiashi exclaimed as the icy water splashed all over his lap dousing the flames.

The servant who dropped the dessert was fluttering around him with a napkin and apologizing profusely. Hiashi arrogantly waved him off with a hard look that promised heavy retribution later.

The servant's eyes grew large with fear as he bowed nervously before walking very fast towards the kitchen.

An uncomfortable silence permeated the room as everyone looked at their host who was covered in baked Alaska. On the front of his robe was a large black scorch mark.

Hiashi, looked angrily away from their stares and decided not to wait to reprimand the kitchen staff. He was going to deal with this outrage right now! Throwing his napkin angrily on the table he went to stand up and go punish them.

Hinata, ever the peacemaker, decided to intervene to protect her clan members. "Father, there is something very important I need to tell you" she told him quickly, trying to get him to sit back down.

Hiashi's hair stood on the back of his neck as he felt hard black eyes boring through him...he stopped in his tracks. Not wanting to further anger the Uchiha, Hiashi reluctantly sat back down. He glanced nervously at him before giving his daughter his full, undivided attention.

Hinata blushed at being the center of attention and having her father stare at her so patiently. She reached over under the table and grabbed her husband's hand for support.

"Well, um…it's just that…Itachi and I are going to have a baby," she told her father nervously.

A cold calculating look flashed over his eyes at the news before he efficiently hid it away. He glanced at his daughter with a look of approval on his face before he asked her for permission to look at the baby.

"May I?"

Hinata nodded. "Of course you may, father."

Hiashi quickly activated his Byakugan and was blown away by the bright and blazing chakra the tiny baby had. His grandson was going to be special. He could already tell it was a boy by its chakra. (After all, in his mind, no chakra that powerful could belong to a weak _girl._)

He deactivated his eyes and looked proudly at Hinata, who he figured for once in her life had actually done something right. "Your child will be exceptionally gifted, I can already tell," he proclaimed arrogantly as if it was all because of his superior Hyuuga bloodline and something he had done.

Hinata basking under the glow of his approval bowed her head before him modestly. "Yes father, I know he will be."

Hiashi sent her and Neji an extremely condescending look, a look that told them he knew what was best for them.

"It is time you both came home. Your clan needs you and Hinata it is not appropriate for you and my future grandson be living in an _apartment,_" Hiashi proclaimed with a slight sneer.

Neji and Hinata looked at each other horrified.

Noticing their obvious reluctance on their faces, Hiashi tried a softer approach that was only a little less condescending. "I have already had workers begin constructing homes for both of you on the grounds of the compound. The work should be completed within a few months."

"We decline," Itachi told him flatly. There was no way in hell he was going to live under her father's thumb. He would probably end up killing him within a week.

"So do I, uncle" Neji chimed in firmly. Now that he had been living on his own he was not willing to give up his freedom and go back to living under his uncle's iron rule.

Hiashi began to sputter angrily when Hinata stood up gaining his attention. "Father, I would like to suggest an alternative…if I may?"

Hiashi looked at her with surprise at her composure. _Hmm, maybe the Uchiha is good for her after all,_ he mused to himself.

"You may proceed," Hiashi said while nodding his head regally.

Feeling her husband's strong presence next to her, she felt herself almost prepared to deal with her father.

"Neji and I will assist with the administrative duties of the clan, just like we have in the past," she said as she directed a slightly firm look at her father. "But…we have a few conditions first."

Hiashi's mouth sneered in outrage at the way she was trying to force his hand. "What are they Hinata?" He said respectfully holding his temper back as he felt the Uchiha's dark eyes glare at him.

Taking a deep breath, Hinata ventured off into the unfamiliar territory of standing up to her autocratic father. "Well, first off, I want you… to give me my dowry and two of the homes by the river. They belonged to mother and she passed them down to me. The other house I want you to… give to Neji...," she said as she looked at her cousin with a thoughtful look on her face, "...as a wedding gift, for when he marries Tenten."

Neji glared at her for interfering and Hiashi shook his head angrily in refusal. "Absolutely not, you know those houses are used to provide housing for visiting diplomats. And furthermore, Neji, you _know_ I have been planning for you to marry your distant cousin, Kia, for a long time. I forbid you to marry outside of the clan," Hiashi proclaimed to them in an icy voice as his fist slammed on the table.

Hinata's lip began to tremble as she watched the chocolate ice cream dessert fall out of her father's hair as he slammed his fist on the table. She was desperately holding back a giggle at the picture he made. His appearance was absolutely deplorable thanks to her bratty sister.

She made the mistake of looking at her sister who was also struggling to keep from laughing and she chortled into her hand. Her father looked at her angrily and was about to throw them all out when Hanabi took matters into her own hands.

She started sobbing, noisily. Huge tears began to flood down her cheeks.

Hinata looked at her skeptically and could tell that she was faking it but she watched and admired her little sister for her nerve and guts. It always amazed her that she wasn't afraid of their father.

"Father, if you send (sniff) Neji and Hinata away… then that means I am going to have to spend all of my time taking care of clan matters (sniff) …rather than training." Hanabi looked at him with huge innocent eyes. She sniffed some more behind her hand, and was obviously enjoying the little farce she was enacting. "And that just isn't fair- why can't you just give them what they want so you can spend more time training me?" She asked him in a pitiful voice and sniffled tearfully.

Hiashi frowned slightly as he scrutinized his youngest daughter as he considered her words. He soon realized she was right; he had been neglecting her in order to take care of clan matters. His jaw became tense as he looked at Hanabi, and he noticed that her behavior has been very ill-mannered lately and obviously needed more attention from him.

He looked over at Neji and Hinata with narrowed eyes and realized that if they walked out, he probably wouldn't get to see his grandson in the future and he would be forced to deal with all aspects of the clan on his own. Both of those scenarios were intolerable to him. He looked at them with a knowing look on his face. They had him backed in a corner and he had no choice but to give into their demands.

"Fine, I will give you what you want. I will have my lawyers draw up all of the necessary paperwork. In return I want one of you to visit the compound each day while you are not on missions to assist me with clan affairs," he said testily, knowing that he had somehow lost control of the situation.

Hinata smiled at her husband feeling elated. They would get to move into her mother's lovely home and give the other one to Sasuke. Neji would be able to marry Tenten and move into the third house. It was all happening just like she knew it would.

She glanced over at her baby sister who was smiling slightly to herself, holding back a massive triumphant grin and caught her eye.

"Arigato baby sister," Her eyes told her silently. She knew she couldn't have done it without her help and she definitely would have never had the nerve to do what Hanabi did.

Itachi stood up next to his wife and silently applauded his little sister-in-law. He thought she was going to make an excellent clan leader one day.

"Hinata, I am ready to leave if you are?" He leaned over and whispered to her.

She looked over at him and smiled. She was on the verge of busting out laughing, she was just so happy at defeating her father and seeing him covered in chocolate and the huge scorch mark on his robe.

She took a deep breath and brought herself under control. "Yes Itachi, I am ready."

Neji seeing they were ready to leave; couldn't resist taking a subtle dig at his uncle. Flicking his eyes dismissively over his appearance he said, "Goodbye uncle, tonight's dinner has been…very entertaining."

Hiashi's eyes narrowed at the slight. He looked at all of them with hard eyes before he strode out of the room with his head held high.

Just after he left the room, Hanabi and Hinata burst out laughing, even Neji and Itachi couldn't help themselves from cracking a smile. All around the clan compound, the members were breaking out in laughter and opening bottles of champagne. (They had used their Byakugan to watch the whole thing of course.) Hiashi-_sama_ had been defeated and humiliated. Everyone knew things were going to a lot get better around the compound.

**Author's Note:** This chapter got so long; I had to split it up into two chapters. I plan to end the story with the next chapter or make two more, depending on how it all pans out. I also have an epilogue or a future scene partially written. Thanks to all of you who have stuck with me on this one. I wrote this chapter for all of you.

Edited: 4/26/13


	25. Chapter 25

**Dreams That Became Reality**

**~Chapter 25~**

* * *

**Author's Note**: Remember, this story is AU and some things will be different than the manga:] **Mature content in the beginning—you have been warned!**

**Timeskip:** One week later.

Lazing around in bed Hinata stretched out idly and rubbed her hand over her still slim abdomen in a loving gesture. It was her way of saying good morning to the baby.

Lifting up her eyes she saw her husband was watching her from the doorway with a tender and slightly solemn expression on his face.

"Good morning," Hinata said with a smile and was unable to stop her eyes from traveling over his body since he was only wearing a towel after coming out of the shower.

"No, there will be none of that," Itachi told her firmly with a small shake of his head. "I have a meeting with the Hokage this morning, and I believe you have somewhere to go also…" he stated with a small lift of his eyebrow.

Hinata sighed, "Yes, it is my turn to take care of the clan today. Neji is out of the area on a mission and father and Hanabi left town early this morning on clan business."

Itachi walked over to her and extended a hand to help her up, "Then you had better get going."

Hinata's eyes travelled over him and she had to admit he looked absolutely delicious, with his bare sculpted chest and damp hair hanging loose over his shoulders. Her whole body began to feel flushed with warmth just by looking at him.

"You don't feel sick this morning?" He asked her as a warm light lurked within his eyes.

Hinata held back a smile, "Um no, I haven't been sick for a couple of days."

Unhesitatingly, Itachi dropped the towel and lowered himself on top of her. "Five minutes…and then I have to get ready," he murmured as he began kissing the hollows of her neck and running his hands all over her body.

Hinata smiled in victory, "Ten minutes..." she bargained as she moved herself slowly against him and wrapped her arms around him.

Itachi looked at the clock and knew he could give her fifteen before he absolutely had to get ready. "Fine, then you and the baby need to get up."

"Okay," Hinata said as she closed her eyes in delight, enjoying the lightness of the moment and the feel of him against her. He was with her again and he wasn't shutting her out. Married life with him was so good.

Itachi lifted himself up and looked down at her and knew instinctively what she was thinking. He also knew their problems were far from over, they still had some enormous hurtles to face as Konoha was in grave danger. All of it caused him endless worrying, but little by little he was learning to share some of his concerns with his wife and his brother.

Forcing his face to be relaxed he lowered it just above hers. "We are wasting time," he reminded her with a ghost of a smile.

Hinata laughed and looked up at him with shining eyes, "Well, you're the one who keeps talking…"

Never one to waste words, Itachi had a determined light in his eyes as he lifted her arms above her head and entered her in one swift movement. Hinata's back arched as she gasped and half laughed in surprise as he kept her arms pinned down.

Straining against him as wild heat began to pulse through her; she began to kiss him back with unrestrained desperation. He was doing something new and it was driving her crazy. He released her arms and her hands began to slide over his backside in a feverish dance.

Hinata felt a rumble in his chest that sounded suspiciously like a laugh. Suddenly she began to grin against his mouth. Itachi raised his head and looked down at her with raised eye brows, "What?"

Breathing shallowly, Hinata laughed in wonder, "You laughed."

He frowned, "I did not."

His wife looked up at him with skeptical eyes, "What was so funny?"

Itachi gazed down at her with a slightly knowing look on his face as he rested his head in his hand and leaned down on his elbow. Knowing how bashful she was, he debated whether or not he should say anything to her.

Hinata breathed out a shallow breath as he began to move against her again and looked at him with slightly frustrated eyes. She could tell he was trying to distract her.

"Itachi, tell me," she pleaded with a breathless chuckle, now super curious about what caused him to laugh.

Fascinated, she watched as her husband shrugged a little before his face went completely unreadable. "You have been… a bit insatiable lately."

Hinata's face immediately turned bright red and she tried to hide it the crook of Itachi's shoulder. Moving a little away from her he continued to stare down at her with eyes that reminded her she was that one that wanted to know so bad.

"I know," Hinata said as she looked up at him and sighed with contentment, "I can't help it...I am just... so happy."

Itachi's eyes drifted over his wife's glowing face and knew she spoke the truth, even with all that was going on around them; their life together was almost perfect. So perfect that it hung over both of them like a specter as the thought of his horrific dream coming to pass filled him with inexpressible dread and fear.

Hinata looked up at his clouded face and her smile faded, she knew he was thinking of his dreams and the possibility that he could lose her and the baby. Reaching up she tenderly cradled his face with her hands, "Itachi, don't worry. Everything will all be alright."

Absorbing her words he closed his eyes for a moment and hoped she was right. When he opened his eyes he glanced at the clock and saw it was getting late, he needed to be at the security meeting in fifteen minutes.

Hinata saw it too and was about to push him off of her when his mouth covered hers and he began to kiss her with a raw urgency that was relentless in its need and desire. Sliding her hands around his back and holding onto him tight, she decided that if he didn't mind being late then she wouldn't either…

* * *

Itachi was relieved when he slid into his chair for the meeting in the conference room and saw he was only about five minutes late and the meeting had just barely started.

After he left his wife he had been in an exceptionally good mood, but looking around at the people in attendance at the meeting he felt his mood begin to plummet. The air in the room was thick with tension—something bad was clearly looming on the horizon.

Her face was carved like stone as the Hokage stood up and addressed the group. "Some Akatsuki members have been spotted in the area surrounding Konoha, we are tightening security in all sectors. Teams of ANBU Black Ops have already been given orders to seek and destroy."

As he heard her words a sense of dread began to gnaw at him as he knew somehow this was all related to his dream.

"Do you have a description of the Akatsuki members that were spotted?" Itachi asked her in a voice that sounded hollow to his ears. As he spoke, whirling in his mind like a buzz-saw, he saw the vision of his wife's long blue-black hair flowing behind her as she was hidden amongst the rubble covered in blood.

Knowing he had a duty to protect Konoha first, even above his wife and unborn child, he forced himself to squelch down his fears and follow orders.

"One of our spies spotted a group of seven ninjas, they all had black robes with red clouds and all of them had orange hair except for one female who had blue-black hair," the Hokage told them the information with an affronted edge of anger in her voice.

The whole group turned to Itachi as they knew his background with Akatsuki, and his eyes narrowed as he saw some of the people were watching him with a hint of suspicion lurking within their eyes.

A frown formed on his face as he thought about Pain, he had heard rumors how he had others that worked with him, but no one in Akatsuki, except for Madara and Konan knew his secret.

His eyes became urgent as he addressed the group. "We have no time to waste; sound the state of emergency alarm. Pain and Konan are coming. Give the order to have all active ninjas called to duty at once and lock down the village," he advised with deadly calm.

Feeling like a doomsday prophet, he finally told them the worst part of what he knew about Pain. "He possesses the power to destroy the entire village if he does not get what he wants."

"Naruto," the Hokage said as she closed her eyes painfully and appeared to be thinking. After Itachi nodded in the affirmative, she turned towards an ANBU member in the back of the room, "Have Naruto recalled immediately."

Turning towards the rest of the room she began to fire off orders when a siren began to go off. Sector 1-B had already been breached.

The Hokage swore angrily under her breath and looked at everyone in the room. "Find all of them and eliminate them and notify the security monitors there are more than one of them that has breached our security."

At her orders, everyone scattered. Itachi was about to leave when the Hokage stopped him, "Locate Pain and eliminate him, he is your top priority..." she told him with a look in her eyes that told him she understood exactly what it was she was asking him to do.

Itachi looked back at her for a moment before nodding, "Hai, understood Lady Hokage."

As he began to dissipate, he silently spoke to his wife and hoped wherever she was she was staying out of the fighting, _be careful Hinata_.

* * *

Hinata breathed a sigh of relief as she saw the last of her branch family members enter the bunker below the compound. She had been in the middle of a huge birthday celebration for several of the children when the alarms began to go off.

All of the ninjas that were active she had sent to help protect the village. Even though she knew she was going against her father's wishes she knew she was doing the right thing sending them out. It was their duty to help the village, protecting the clan was secondary.

"Byakugan," she said and concentrated on watching the village and within moments her eyes opened wide as she saw an Akatsuki member up high in the sky and the Hokage and Itachi were below him.

Hinata gasped when she saw the attacker was gathering chakra towards himself at an alarming rate. Suddenly, black flames began to race towards him and he dissipated, but before he did he released some of the chakra and a small explosion took place in the center of town.

Fear began to race through her when she saw the explosion and she concentrated her Byakugan near the area and saw Itachi and the Hokage were alright.

Her hand immediately reached towards her stomach and she gently rubbed over it. "Your daddy's fine, Shisui, and… I think he just saved Konoha…" she said with equal parts relief and wonder in her voice.

_Oh Itachi, please be careful_…Hinata worried as her eyes found him again and watched him fight another intruder…and then she couldn't find him anywhere.

Walking around the perimeter of the clan compound she heard the sound of a battle on the other side and saw Naruto was lying face down and was pinned to ground the with these weird looking chakra stakes.

Closing her eyes she conducted a painful debate within herself. _Should I help him or should I just stay out of it_. Without a doubt, she knew which choice her husband would want her to make.

The Akatsuki member began to advance slowly towards Naruto as he lay defenseless before him.

_I'm sorry Itachi_, Hinata thought as she made her choice. She was a leaf ninja first and it was her duty to help Naruto and there was else around to help him. I have to try to save him…

She jumped over the wall and her attack blew the intruder back by several feet.

"Hinata!" Yelled Naruto as he watched her move forward to attack the Akatsuki leader again. Byakugan awakened and chakra flaring she yelled, "Juho Soshiken!" and two large lion-like shrouds of chakra formed around her hands. She spun around, thrusting them forward and then went on the attack…

**Author's Note:** Okay, I know, evil, evil cliffie, but at least I finally updated. I pinky promise to not make you guys wait so long for the next chapter. I have already started writing it so I hope to finish this story sometime this week. As most of you know by now, if I get feedback from you, I will update sooner…You will make me feel obligated to, ha ha.

Edited: 4/26/13


	26. Chapter 26

**Dreams That Became Reality**

**Chapter 26**

* * *

As if in slow motion, her mind captured everything around her as she spun around. The blue sky beyond them, the blinding dust, her breath coming out in gasps, the feel of her chakra as it surged in deadly and powerful shrouds around her hands. With almost blinding clarity, Hinata saw and felt it all.

The one thing she did not feel was fear, it was strangely absent from her mind as she rushed forward to attack. Her duty as a ninja and desire to protect her friend was at the forefront of her mind. She felt unusually strong and free, almost light as the wind around her. Her mind was strangely calm in the face of almost certain death.

That calmness shook her as she moved closer to her target…it didn't feel real. But as her eyes saw the fabled rings of the Rinnegan in the Akatsuki member's eyes she knew the fight she was in was real… deadly real.

_Forgive me, my love._

Out of the corner of her Byakugan activated eyes as she moved ominously closer toward her target she saw a shock of black hair and dark blue come over the wall behind Pain.

In the stillness of the moment, sizzling spikes of chakra-lightning were everywhere coiling around the black and red clouds of Pain's robe, immobilizing him and searing into his flesh.

_Sasuke._

"Hinata!" He yelled from the end of the sparking lightning rope, "Now's your chance."

Now shaking with effort, Hinata yelled out in desperation as she lunged at Pain towards his chest with her deadly Gentle Step Twin Lion Fist attack. Shrouds of chakra flowed through her hands, glancing off the Akatsuki member chest as he tried to break free of the bands of lightning snaked around him. Momentarily stunned and unable to move Pain's eyes opened wide as he felt his chakra disrupted.

Seeing Hinata's attack had left the Akatsuki member immobilized, Sasuke moved behind him and splayed open his hand and the spikes of lightning flared out skewering Pain. Almost simultaneously, Hinata directed all of her chakra into her palm for one last deadly blow.

While shoving her hand into his chest, her eyes flared open wide at the searing pain she felt rip through her shoulder as he launched a chakra pole into her just before she felt herself being ruthlessly lifted into the air. An eerie sense of calmness struck her again as she floated in the air, before an unseen force slammed her hard to the ground.

"Hinata," Naruto screamed as he watched the ground disintegrate beneath her broken body.

In horror, he watched as the clouds of dust surrounding her cleared and in the pile of rubble only her long blue-black hair, a sleeve from her violet-colored jacket and her blood was visible as it seeped through the rocks.

In stunned silence, Naruto twisted his head and saw Pain collapse dead on the ground and Sasuke was standing behind him riddled with chakra poles.

"For you, nii-san," Sasuke said in a quiet, solemn voice as he looked off into the distance speaking to his absent brother. Turning toward Naruto he smirked one last time before coughing up blood and collapsing in a heap on the barren ground beneath him.

_No Sasuke!_

Naruto's eyes were wide with horror as he watched two of his friends, one of them was his team-mate - who he loved like a brother, fall in front of his eyes.

They had done it all to protect him…

In the throne-room of his mind the gravelly voice of the Kyyubi began to seep through the bars of his cage, tempting him with uncontrollable power and thoughts of revenge.

_Naruto, release me, I will avenge them for you_…

Seconds later and still too stunned to assimilate what was happening, Naruto watched as folds of paper began to float out of the air and surround Pain's body and a woman with blue tinted hair appeared. Her pale face was somber against the black and red of her Akatsuki robe.

"I have come to collect my friend." Konan told him in a sad, yet dignified voice. In a matter of seconds, she had her team-mate wrapped up like a mummy and he was floating behind her as she jumped over the wall.

Breathing out rapidly, eyes turning orange and flaring with fire, Naruto looked at his friends as they lie dying in the rubble and felt his heart burst with blinding pain and anger. Unable to contain it any longer, the seal on his stomach imploded unleashing the Kyuubi.

In the searing explosion of fiery-orange chakra, the poles that had impaled Naruto to the ground disintegrated into dust under the raging force of the demon chakra. Blazing with uncontrollable fury, Naruto/Nine Tails Kyuubi, followed after the woman, determined to make whoever was responsible pay for what they did…

* * *

_Where was she_…

The ground under his feet disappeared swiftly as he ran through the village in search for his wife. Glancing around him with satisfaction, his eyes gleaned the relatively minor amount of damage to the businesses and streets around the village.

Konoha was safe…at least for now…

He stopped suddenly when he saw in the distance and felt an explosion of demon chakra that caused his heart to clench in fear as icy tendrils of his horrific dream gripped around the depths of his mind. Dredging forth images he never wanted to see again…

_Naruto_…

_Hinata!_

Looking around him he saw the people's faces become bloodless with fear as they strove to get as far away from the source of demon-chakra as possible.

Itachi's face became ghostly pale and his mind was wracked with denial as he forced the heavy sense of foreboding far away from his mind. He reminded himself Hinata was nowhere near the area - she had promised him she would stay away from Naruto if the village was attacked.

Unable to resist the urge to investigate, he used his remaining chakra to enhance his speed to the area where the demon chakra was the strongest.

_I can't feel her chakra nearby - she isn't here_, he told himself in relief as he approached the wall and could only feel the residue of the Kyuubi's chakra.

Allowing his mind to relax a fraction he jumped over the wall and was unprepared for the sight of abject horror that met his eyes.

Not only was his wife and unborn son exactly as he had seen them in his dream, but now his brother was there too. Deathly still, Sasuke's normally confident smirk was nowhere to be found as he lie broken on the ground, his body pierced with several chakra poles.

With the sureness of death, time seemed to stand still as ice encased his heart and splintered it in all directions.

Like a painter gone blind, he stared out at the bleak landscape with unseeing eyes, paralyzed by a sight that left him completely devoid of all feeling. It was the way he used to feel… before he met her… and his brother came back into his life. The two of them had taught him how to live again.

A now they were…

His face was carved like stone as he tried to force his frozen body to move so he could learn the truth. All thoughts of faith in Hinata's dream was far away from him as a soul-shattering dread began to consume him.

Jumping over the wall with desperate speed, Neji and his team-mates landed nearby him jarring him out of the near-catatonic state he was in. With careful, precise movements, almost as if he was learning to walk again, Itachi began to take one step after the other.

Neji scanned his cousin with his Byakugan and could see she was still breathing, but her body was broken and blood poured out from her like an ever-steady stream, her life slowly ebbing and receding along with it.

"She is still breathing, but if she doesn't get help soon she will die," Neji called out urgently.

"I have contacted Tsunade, help is on the way." One of Katsuyu's slugs told him from her position on Hinata's chest.

Hearing his wife was still alive forced Itachi into action as he ran over to his brother and fell on his knees beside him.

"He is alive," Lee told him with a slightly relieved look as he leaned his head close to Sasuke's mouth.

Itachi's face was unnaturally pale as he stared at one of the poles sticking out of his brother; it looked to be in a vital place in his chest.

The slug on Sasuke's chest looked at him sadly, "He is bleeding internally and his lungs are collapsed…I don't know how much longer he can hold out."

Itachi felt his world go black as pain lanced through him, gouging his heart as he wished it was him on the ground, not his little brother.

It was his wife after all; he should have been the one protecting her, not Sasuke.

_It should have been me…_

A harsh, bloodless silence took over the area as they waited for the medics to arrive.

"What happened?" Tenten finally asked in a stunned whisper to the slug on Hinata's chest.

"Pain had Naruto captured and pinned to the ground with poles, when Hinata came to his rescue and her attack knocked him away from Naruto," Katsuyu's slug began momentarily stunning them.

"Hinata…" Lee said in awed tones as he looked over at her unnaturally pale face. Tenten's face mirrored his as she stared at her fellow kunoichi and friend on the ground.

Itachi had made his way over to his wife and was looking down at her nearly lifeless face and was not surprised. He knew she would do anything to protect those she loved.

A muscle clenched in his unemotional face as he stared down at his bride as she lay limp and broken and felt beyond the searing pain stabbing through him a glimmer of pride in her. Her selfless bravery, her love for the village, those were things that he loved about her.

Pale and shaken, Neji closed his eyes in pain as he looked down at his cousin. _Hinata, you brave little fool_, his mind ached with gruff respect.

"While she was attacking Pain, Sasuke jumped over the wall and bound him with lightning and together they defeated him… Hinata delivered the finishing blow to his chest… but it was not without cost, they were both gravely injured in the process…" The slug finished with a sad shake of her head.

"After Sasuke collapsed, a woman from the Akatsuki came and collected Pain's body and Naruto exploded into the Kyuubi and followed her."

Itachi began to look off into the distance along with Neji, thinking reluctantly he should go retrieve Naruto. He shared a look with Neji as the Byakugan user began scanning the area. After all, his wife and brother risked their lives to save Naruto, he owed it to them to bring him back alive.

"I spot some strange chakra up on top of a hill, Naruto is there too," Neji told them as he pointed towards it.

Itachi gritted his teeth as he gauged his chakra and knew it was very low, but he had no choice but to go, he had to do it for them. His normal grace was absent as he tried to stand up with rigid almost exaggerated, precise movements. His body refused to cooperate with him as he tried to make it move.

The Hokage, along with Sakura jumped over the wall, following behind her were several medics along with a couple of stretchers. Several ANBU stood behind her awaiting her orders.

As she surveyed the scene she had already learned what had happened from Katsuyu but to see the devastated area and her shinobi on the ground was still brutally painful for her.

"Sasuke!" Sakura wailed as she ran over towards him and began working on him with a desperate, feverish glow in her eyes. If there was any way she could save him, she would.

_Don't you die on me Sasuke, I won't let you_…_so don't even think about it, s_he told him with hard eyes as she worked on him. Turning to the medics beside her she began issuing a series of frantic orders. Several hands of green healing chakra began to cover him all at once.

Tsunade began assessing Hinata, with trembling hands as the sight of blood was paralyzing her. As she pressed through the phobia and her emotions; her eyes were hard as she shouted orders to ANBU.

"Bring Naruto back; eliminate any Akatsuki members in the area…Neji, you and your team provide back up," she directed them and when she saw Itachi moving to follow them with a hard, determined look on his face, she stopped him.

"You have done enough for the village, stay with your wife and brother."

At hearing the order in her voice, Itachi stumbled and collapsed on his knees next to his wife. Not caring if anyone was watching him, he wrapped shaky hands around her long hair like he had so many times after they made love and leaned his head over hers.

"Stay with her Itachi, I will bring back Naruto," Neji told him in a quiet but determined voice as he laid his hand on his shoulder.

Itachi could only nod as he continued to stare down at his wife and watch as the Hokage worked on her. In the back of his mind he was afraid to ask a question out loud.

_The baby? My little boy… is he…?_

His eyes burned as he turned them on the Hokage's face as she worked on Hinata, looking for a sign - any sign that would give him hope and release him from this hell he was in.

Tsunade's eyes were grave as she continued to search for the baby's chakra. She lowered them to the ground as there was still nothing, until she found a small thread of life inside the injured woman. A shaky breath escaped her as she felt Itachi place his hand over Hinata's stomach and search for the baby's chakra.

He searched and reached out, his mind called to his son, pleading with him to answer back…then he found it. A small tendril of chakra, he recognized as belonging to his child.

"My son…is alive," Itachi stated quietly as he leaned over a Hinata.

Feeling choked up and still worried, Tsunade could only nod as she got back to work stabilizing the young mother in front of her.

* * *

Through the endless shards of pain, Hinata could feel the urgency in the people around her working on her. A dark heavy weight was crushing her chest and a searing pain stabbed through her shoulder. Her body was in agony…a cold darkness surrounded her, suffocating her.

Against her forehead she felt a single drop of moisture land on her. It punctured a hole in the darkness around her.

_Itachi?_

She could feel one of his hands buried in her hair and the other was on her stomach. Her mind and body knew him by his touch. She had no doubt - it was him.

Desperate to speak to him, she tried to move her lips, but her mouth refused to obey her, keeping the tortured words trapped inside her head.

_Itachi…I'm sorry! I had to do it, please forgive me…I love you, _her mind shouted painfully before the darkness finally overtook her.

* * *

Sliding down in exhaustion with his back against the wall, Itachi watched the double doors of the operating room close behind his wife and brother. Feeling numb, beyond the shattering pain and worry that was consuming his mind, he could only wait…

**Author's Note**: Ouch, my stomach hurts writing this stuff…there will definitely be one more chapter coming up, maybe two. I don't want to rush the ending. There will also be an epilogue or something in the future. Thanks so much for all of your kind words and encouragement for the previous chapter. A few months ago my muse for this story was non-existent, until a few of you left me reviews and it turned my attention back to this story. If you are a lurker and have never left a review for me, please do so, I would love to hear from you.

Edited: 4/26/13


	27. Chapter 27

**Dreams That Became Reality**

**Chapter 27**

* * *

The operating room doors swung back and forth like an ominous pendulum as they admitted the replacement medics, casting a worried pall over the steadily growing crowd out in the waiting area.

For the last several hours no one had spoken except for the few words a newcomer would ask the group regarding the condition of the patients. Upon hearing Sasuke and Hinata were still in surgery and there was still no news regarding their prognosis the visitor would join the others along the benches against the wall as they kept their silent vigil.

Looking over their sensei in the middle of them, Shino and Kiba shared a worried look when another set of medics rushed into the room. A frantic buzzing noise began to pierce through the awful silence as a spike of anxiety from him caused Shino's kikai bugs to swarm with agitation.

Calmly, in an almost maternal gesture, Kurenai reached over and grabbed his hand along with Kibas' on the other side of her in an effort to give comfort as well as receive it. Behind his glasses, Shino closed his eyes and focused his attention toward soothing his allies.

Oblivious to everyone and everything except for what was going on in the operating room, Itachi sat closest to the door, frozen in his own private hell. His body was still and his face was deathly pale as he stared at the operating room doors with sightless eyes.

Inside his mind, old and familiar shadows tormented him like demons as they reminded him happiness was not meant for the likes of him. He is an Uchiha and just like most of his accursed clan he and his brother were doomed to share the same deadly fate as the rest of them.

There was no escaping it…

For an all too brief glimpse of time he had foolishly reached for the impossible and had let his beautiful wife draw him into her world of dreams making him believe that there could be more to life than sorrow and death.

But in the end, her dreams of the future had been just dreams, while his had become reality…

Inside the operating room the sound of a cry of misery broke through the silence before Sakura burst out the double doors with tears running down her face as she looked at Itachi with bleak eyes.

"Sasuke...he's…" she started to say in stunned whisper as if she still didn't quite believe it. "He's dead – I couldn't…save him."

Without even being conscious he did it, Itachi rushed blindly through the double doors as an overwhelming need to see his brother took control of him.

His stomach clenched in dread when he saw the ghostly pallor of brother's skin and noticed his normally blazing chakra signature was gone.

_Sasuke_.

Moving slowly towards his little brother his tenuous grip on reality seemed fragile…it was as if he was trapped in one of his nightmare realms his eyes automatically rebelling at what they saw. It just couldn't be real – Sasuke was supposed to live and restore the clan and bring honor to the Uchiha.

_Little brother…no._

Memories of his life with his brother flashed through the void of his mind inflicting caustic wounds. Searing his mind with regret because he had failed to protect him.

_Baby Sasuke in their mother's arms after he was just born, his little fingers were so strong as they gripped his._

_Young Itachi holding his baby brother in his arms during the Nine Tails attack on Konoha…while promising always to be there for him and... protect him._

_In the midst of the massacre of his clan, letting his brother live, teaching him how to survive by hating him…_

In the end his promises had been empty…useless. Sasuke had died because of him. His endless worrying about his dreams and desire to protect his wife had killed his brother.

A silent scream ripped through his mind as he leaned his forehead against his brother's lukewarm one.

_Sasuke…forgive me._

Time stood still as crushing pain gripped his mind, the blessed cold numbness he used to feel during his time with Akatsuki was obliterated. He had reached the end of himself and could not even hope.

Two arms slipped around him and he felt tears through the shirt on his back bringing his mind to reality as her presence felt familiar to him.

"Itachi?"

Through the blood rushing through his mind and pain, he thought he heard Hanabi's worried voice trying to reach him. He tried to respond to her but couldn't.

After waiting a few moments with no response from him, Hanabi tried again in a voice choked with tears. "…Hinata and the baby are still alive… because of your brother… I will never forget what he did."

Itachi's face was like stone and he felt as cold inside as his brother's rigid dead body was becoming; the shadows of despair swirling in his mind drowned out her voice.

"Itachi – can you hear me? Hinata and the baby are still alive. There is still a chance they will live…" Hanabi wrenched out desperately, trying to get through to him. "They need you…"

A shudder passed through him as he heard her. His mind tentatively tried to grasp what she was saying to him. It didn't want to believe, he forced himself to reach out for her words with what was left of his sanity.

_Hinata and the baby…they are still alive?_

A solitary tear slipped down his face.

With stiff movements he turned his head and saw his wife's pale face with an oxygen mask covering it. She was still breathing…

Wearily, the Hokage moved over to them, her face was grave as her eyes drifted over Sasuke's inert body. "I am sorry we couldn't save your brother, one of the poles pierced through his heart. We couldn't repair it."

Unable to speak, Itachi could only nod. Hanabi slipped her hand around his and held it with a death grip.

"Hinata and the baby are still hanging in there. It is miraculous really…" The Hokage said with a tinge of disbelief and wonder in her voice as she looked over at Hinata. "She has sustained multiple fractures and trauma all over her body and has been bleeding internally…but somehow she is hanging on."

Hanabi gave Itachi and the Hokage a shaky smile, "My sister is the most stubborn person I know, she will never quit."

A flicker of pained amusement flashed through Itachi's mind as he has run up against her unyielding will a few times in their short marriage and it had surprised him. Hanabi was right, Hinata was stubborn and a fighter.

Somewhere in the back of his mind a glimmer of belief in the impossible began to reach him…

"…At this point Hinata and the baby are stable and there is nothing more I can do." Lady Tsunade explained in a grave voice as her shoulders drooped with exhaustion. "We can only wait and hope they will be able to recover."

"Lady Tsunade, you go take a break," Shizune told her with no nonsense eyes. "I will watch over them and will call you if anything changes."

Breathing out a ragged sigh, Tsunade took one last regretful look at Sasuke and then glanced over at Hinata before leaving the room.

"Come Itachi, Hinata needs to be able to feel us by her," Hanabi told him firmly as she pulled him over by her sister.

Still feeling broken inside, Itachi clung desperately to Hanabi's will like a lifeline as he placed his hands around his wife's deathly pale face.

"Stay with me Hinata…I can't lose you," he spoke into her ear as he moved closer to her.

"That's right Hinata, you said you would always be there for me, damn you." Hanabi choked out as she placed her hand over her sister's belly. "…You promised me I would get to be an aunt…and I am going to hold you to that promise."

Itachi felt his sister- in-law place her hand over his and his eyes met hers with gratitude in them.

"She is not going to leave us Itachi, she loves us too much," Hanabi told him with the absolute optimism that only the young and people who have never experienced death or extreme loss have.

A frown crossed his face as he had never in his whole life experienced anything even remotely like optimism - wars and death had burnt it out of him as far back as he could remember. Itachi could only hold onto her hand and believe just this once that Hanabi was right and he wasn't cursed to lose everyone foolish enough to love him.

* * *

Hinata awoke to smothering darkness - it was so black and dense she felt she couldn't breathe. Panic began to engulf her mind and was choking off all sense of reason. In the abyss of pain, she couldn't see or feel anything. Her breath began to come out in shallow gasps when she couldn't force her eyes open.

_Where am I? Am I dead?_

Fear overwhelmed her as she didn't know the answer to those questions.

Through the darkness she heard voices…

_Hanabi?_

_Itachi?_

An unreal sense of calm reached her at the realization she wasn't dead.

Suddenly a strange but familiar chakra began to flood through her. It coiled around every part of her, infusing her body with a feeling of well-being and strength like she had never felt before.

_What is this? What is happening to me?_

The chakra was full of life and invigorating…it was calling her out of the darkness and coaxing her to come back to life.

She recognized the voice as belonging to Pain and she saw the immensely powerful Rinnegan eyes flash before her.

"LIVE," the disembodied voice of her former enemy told her and she sensed the desire within him to make amends.

The breath was forced out of her lungs before the darkness lifted. Opening her eyes tentatively she blinked a few times as her eyes adjusted to the operating room light above her. Moving her hand slowly she settled it around her sister's hand still resting on her stomach.

"Hinata?" Hanabi cried out seeing her sister was awake.

Itachi looked at his wife and hardly dared to believe what he was seeing; her pale skin was becoming infused with color and life. His hands were trembling but infinitely careful as he touched her face.

"Itachi?" Hinata whispered achingly, "I'm sorry... please tell me you understand."

Itachi nodded, looking at her as if he was seeing a ghost. "I always knew you were going to do it."

Hinata began to cry, "I didn't want to risk the baby… but I couldn't let Naruto be tortured like that and do nothing about it…and then Sasuke helped me." Hinata turned her head slowly and stared over at her brother in law and saw his dark eyes were open and he was staring at them. Behind her Itachi went still as he saw his brother was alive.

A shared look of surviving a hard fought and difficult battle passed between them.

"Tch…it was nothing. After all, I couldn't let Itachi have all the glory protecting the village." Sasuke told her with a weak smirk.

Hinata gave him a teary smile before turning her eyes back to her husband. Her heart melted as she looked up at him and could tell by the look on his face that he had suffered enormously because of their actions today. She snuggled her face closer to his chest.

"Just know this brother…I consider us to be even now," Sasuke told him in a solemn voice as they gave each other measuring looks.

Understanding his brother completely, knowing Sasuke was referring back to all that Itachi had done for him in the past and now considered the enormous debt he had to him paid.

Itachi curved his hand around his wife's shoulder lovingly and knew that he was the one who now was in his brother's debt. Strange and slightly uncomfortable feelings of something like joy began to flood over him and pride at the man his brother had become.

"Thank you brother," Itachi said quietly and knew his brother was well able to read the hidden gratitude within his voice.

Sasuke looked at his brother and the thought _of course I did it for you - we're brothers, _passed through his mind. But he didn't get to respond because Sakura and Naruto sprang through the doors like twin bolts of lightning.

"Nagato did it, I didn't know what to expect, but he used his Gedo, Samsara Heavenly Life jutsu to revive you!" Naruto said in awe as he looked at his friend before a look of mischief passed over his face. "You owe me, Teme."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, but for once didn't argue with his friend, "Arigato, Naruto."

Speechless, Naruto shared a look with Sakura who was openly sobbing all over Sasuke as she laid her head on his chest. With a gruff sigh, Sasuke tolerated her for once, showing her he acknowledged her efforts in trying to save him earlier today.

The revolving doors to the operating room began to swing back and forth admitting one stunned, but very happy Hokage and a flood of wildly ecstatic visitors into the room.

Amidst the sounds of rejoicing, Itachi leaned over and kissed his wife as her sister hovered close to her stomach and began talking to the unborn baby in a very excited voice. Telling her future nephew just how much fun they were going to have training together…and to hurry up and be born already.

**Author's Note:** If you want me to, I will gladly make one more chapter and an epilogue but I need to hear from some of you. I have been struggling with horrendous writer's block/burn-out for the past month. So please help me out and give me some feedback and I will do my best to update this as soon as possible. Thanks to all of you who have supported me throughout the duration of this story…I know this is cliché, but I couldn't have done it without you.

Edited: 4/26/13


	28. Chapter 28

**Dreams That Became Reality**

**Chapter 28**

* * *

"What are you looking at?" Itachi asked his wife as he laid in the hammock next to her in front of the river that flowed lazily along side of their front yard.

"A dragon."

At his bewildered look she grinned as she pointed to the cloud formation in the southeastern sky. "Don't you think it looks like one?"

Itachi stared at it for a moment and couldn't for the life of him see a dragon in the fat cloud mass in front of him.

"It just looks like a cloud to me," he responded with a shrug.

"You mean you don't see it?" She asked in surprise because the cloud obviously looked like a dragon. Hinata pointed toward the cloud again. "See there is its wings and tail."

He glanced again, "It looks like a whale."

To his surprise, his wife burst out laughing, "A whale?"

As much as she adored her husband she knew he just did not have any imagination at all, he was the most logical, factual person she had ever met, well except for Shino maybe.

The sound of her laughter, he absorbed with the fervor of a man who had stood on the brink of destruction and survived. Over the last week, while she had been in the hospital he had spent hours just watching her sleep and silently giving thanks that she and the baby were still with him.

While her and Sasuke had been in the hospital Itachi and Neji moved all of their belongings out of the apartments and set up the three homes along the river. It had been a lot of work but the look on her face when he brought her here instead of the apartment after she was released, had been worth it.

Turning his head slightly he looked into her glowing face and felt blessed, he didn't know what he ever did to deserve such a life with a wife like her and a child on the way. Not to mention the close relationship he had with his brother. He determined to never take this life that was given to him for granted.

He was never much of a religious man, but he could not deny that a lot of what had happened over the past few months were not of his doing but seemed to come from a source beyond him. Hinata's dreams and his made him understand that fate or Kami must have chosen a different life for him than he had originally chosen for himself. Instead of death, he was given life.

He looked over at his wife's smiling face as she tried to navigate her way out of the hammock and decided that life was very good.

Itachi reached out and gently pulled her on top of him, "Where do you think you are going?"

A happy laugh burst out of her as she looked into his smiling face. Her eyes noted the change within in him over the past few days. He looked more content and at peace than she had ever seen him before.

She lightly placed her hands around his face and smiled down at him. "If you want me to stay, I will…I just thought maybe you were hungry and would like some lunch." She told him but felt her blood began to race when she saw the look in his eyes and knew it wasn't food he wanted.

"I've missed you," he told her simply.

Hinata swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat and choked back tears as she was just so utterly happy to be alive and with him. Melting with tenderness she began to kiss his face as his arms wrapped around her back.

She sighed as her mouth settled over his, over the last week she had missed him terribly. From the moment Pain healed her she had felt fine and ready to go home, but the Hokage made her and Sasuke stay in the hospital anyway so they could be observed and more tests could be run. Especially with Hinata being pregnant the Hokage was not going to take any chances.

While she had been in there she hardly saw Itachi at all and it seemed he was always at meetings or helping to make repairs throughout the village. Sometimes at night she would sense his presence in the room but that was all, it still wasn't the same as spending time with him.

So, she was thrilled when she came home today and saw that he and Neji had moved all of them into the houses by the river. Now they all had homes of their own with space to settle down, and build new lives for themselves.

As wonderful as all of that was, she was entirely focused on her husband as they greedily made up for lost time. She smiled against his mouth when she felt his hands bury themselves in her hair. Whenever he kissed her it seemed they always ended up tangled there.

Itachi pulled away and whispered urgently, "Are you fully recovered?"

"Yes," his wife said as she sighed a little as she had been (unsuccessfully) trying to tell him for the last week that she was completely healed; in fact she had never felt better. Pain's gift had infused her body with a vibrant almost glorious health, making her feel stronger and more powerful as her chakra seemed to flow with life itself.

Unfortunately, Itachi and the Hokage had refused to believe her and it was finally Sasuke who told them after a week of lying around doing nothing to release them from the hospital or he was going to burn it down…

"I am completely healed," she stated with firm eyes in case he still didn't believe her.

"Good," he said as he shifted underneath her and caused a slight hitch in her breathing as she felt his hard body against her as she lay on top of him.

His face was taut with passion as he slipped his hands around the back of her head and brought her mouth down again onto his.

Heat blossomed in her as she kissed him with hungry intensity, wringing a low moan of pleasure out of him as she moved her body sinuously against his rigid length. His hands found their way under her shirt and he deftly unhooked her bra and his hand enclosed around one of her swollen breast and began stroking the nipple in tight circles.

Itachi moved his head to the side and broke their kiss murmuring thickly, "Let's go inside."

Excitedly, Hinata climbed off of him and helped him out of the hammock. Immediately they both began walking so fast toward the house they were practically running. Both husband and wife were focused on one goal and one goal only - to get inside and find a flat horizontal surface as soon as possible, preferably a bed, but a table would do as well.

Her breath was forced out of her when she felt him scoop her up in his arms and carry her over up the stairs onto the front porch. Hinata giggled as she wrapped her arms around him and buried her lips in the contours of his throat and neck as he began to open the front door.

"Don't you guys ever stop?" Itachi heard his brother ask from behind him and he felt like ignoring him but he didn't as he stopped with his hand still on the doorknob. Couldn't Sasuke tell he was interrupting something?

Hinata peeked over her husband's shoulder and said in a sunny and amused voice, "Hello Sasuke."

Her face became wreathed in smiles when she saw he had Masa with him and they were holding hands. Masa was blushing profusely as she figured out the newlyweds were a little preoccupied and flashed Hinata an apologetic look for interrupting them.

"Hi Hinata, father and I are staying with Sasuke to help him recover and I was wondering if you guys would like to join us for dinner?"

"We will be there," Itachi said quickly without turning to look at them, he opened the door and carried Hinata inside the house.

"Itachi," His wife chided him at his rudeness and called out to Masa,"What time do you want us to come over, Masa-san?"

Not in the least offended by Itachi's obvious wish for them to leave, Masa giggled and shared an amused glance with Sasuke, "Dinner will be ready around six."

Seeing that the reason for his brother's extremely ill-timed visit was now concluded, Itachi kicked the front door shut with his foot and began climbing the stairs two steps at a time…

Once inside their room, their lips met lovingly at first before melting into intense passion. As their clothes began to hit the floor one article after the other, Itachi's hands roamed and lingered over her new curves, appreciating the budding changes in her body from the still slight swell of her abdomen to her even larger breasts.

At first Hinata was anxious about the changes in her body from her pregnancy, but when she saw how he was watching her, she knew he didn't mind and surprisingly he seemed to even enjoy her new body.

Love tightened her throat as he whispered against her skin, "You are so beautiful."

"Oh Itachi," her breath caught as he lowered her onto the bed and his hands and mouth began a wildly tactile assault on her senses, lavishing her body with exquisite attention. His mouth began to trace a shivering path over her body until his mouth opened sensuously over the hollows of her throat.

Weak with passion and heat her head arched back as his mouth found her hers again and her breathing was coming out in pants as kiss followed kiss, gradually becoming more ardent as her warmly parted lips clung to his as they met and tasted his again and again.

Moaning softly and unable to stand anymore of his sensual onslaught as every nerve ending felt as if it was stretched tautly with desire, Hinata drew him to her and he covered her body with his as she opened her legs longingly underneath him and placed them around his hips.

Dipping his face into the hollows of her neck he breathed in deeply the lovely scent of her as he hovered at her entrance before sinking himself deep within her warmth, fully joining his ravenous body with hers.

The feel of her enclosing around him filled him with a deep sense of contentment. A week ago he had thought she had been taken away from him but now she was in his arms. His eyes closed with gratitude.

"I love you," he said with quiet emphasis as his face was just inches away from hers. His eyes as he looked down at her were dark with emotion.

Underneath him, her eyes locked onto his and held them as intimately as their bodies were joined together. They had both been through hell lately, but now they were together again. A shaky breath escaped her as her heart flooded over with love for this complex and wonderful man she had married.

"I love you too," she breathed out as her hands slid around his face she felt him smile against them before he kissed one of them fervently.

Tears slipped out of her eyes as he began moving in and out of her and her eyes closed as his lips were on hers again as both of them moved toward the rapture they only found with each other.

**Author's Note:** I have decided to cut this chapter in two and then I will write an epilogue. I found that I am not finished with this story yet and still have some ideas for it. I hope to write more tonight while it is all fresh in mind before I get sidetracked with life and stuff.

I am really, really sorry for not getting a chapter for this story out sooner. Believe me I have tried over and over to write for this story, but I just couldn't pull it all together. The epilogue will be set in the future showing family time and tie it all up into one fluffy happy ending. I can't wait. I am really going to try my best to get it out soon. Thanks to so many of you for sticking with me over the past year:) Please review or PM me so I know you are still reading this...it would make me really happy.


	29. Chapter 29

**Dreams That Became Reality**

**Chapter 29**

* * *

**[Timeskip: 7 months]**

Itachi's eyes darkened with worry as he turned away from his wife and let the Hokage and Shizune work on her. He walked over towards the window and kept his posture purposefully relaxed knowing his wife could read his body language and he didn't want her to see just how concerned he was.

But worried he was, she had been in labor for over a day and still nothing was happening. Hinata's face was gray with exhaustion and he could tell the baby was becoming distressed by the way his chakra was fluctuating erratically.

A movement caught his eye from behind the small window in the door where he knew several people were outside keeping a vigil, Sasuke and Neji and their wives, Masa and Tenten, were among them.

Itachi walked over to the door to speak to his brother and opened it just a crack. He was not in the mood to speak to the others.

"How is she?" Sasuke asked and his surprised eyes took in how rattled his normally ultra composed brother appeared to be.

Itachi's face was weary and tight as he reached behind him and massaged the tense muscles at the back of his neck.

He lifted troubled eyes toward his younger brother and did not want to speak about the concerns he had out loud.

"Hinata and the baby are strong," Sasuke reassured him.

Itachi sighed, "I know…but they are growing increasingly weak and exhausted."

Sasuke reached through the door and clasped his brother's hand as though trying to give him strength. "They will be fine; after all, my nephew has very stubborn parents."

A small tired smile formed on Itachi's face at his brother's small attempt to comfort him. They had grown very close over the past few months; in fact, Sasuke had asked him to be his best man at his wedding. He was immensely proud that his younger brother was becoming the man he always knew he had the potential to be.

Nodding his head in silent thanks, Itachi knew words were not necessary between them as Sasuke could read him very well.

"Itachi, I think it is time," he heard Shizune's voice tell him and in his haste to get back to his wife he closed the door in his brother's face.

As he picked up his wife's limp hand his eyes met hers and he knew that even though she was completely spent, she would keep fighting. Underneath that sweet and shy exterior was a warrior who never gave up no matter what.

"We are going to be fine," Hinata promised him in calm voice before her face scrunched up in pain as a contraction hit her.

"Breathe Hinata," Itachi reminded her and he tried not to wince when her hand clenched around his in a death grip.

She complied and began to breathe in and out through the pain.

"You are doing fine, Hinata." The Hokage told her from her position at the edge of the bed. "Are you ready to begin pushing?"

"Yes," she almost screamed. Hinata was immensely relieved her ordeal was almost over. The last twenty four hours of pain and having to pretend she wasn't worried about how long it was taking and trying to keep Itachi from becoming anxious was beginning to take its toll. She was very afraid that if something didn't happen soon she was not going to have enough strength left to deliver the baby safely.

"I know you are tired, but hang in there," Shizune told her as she placed her hand on Hinata's protruding belly and waited to feel the next contraction.

"I'm trying my best," Hinata told all of them with a weary smile.

A small yelp escaped her as pain began to contort her body and the Hokage gave her the order to push.

She began to bear down with everything she had.

Itachi kept his eyes locked onto hers and was sure she had broken his hand. "You are doing great, keep breathing," he encouraged soothingly and began to breathe steadily in and out so she would mimic him.

The contraction passed and they waited so she could try again. Forty five minutes passed and the baby's head still wasn't crowning. Hinata's grip on his hand and her pushes were gradually becoming weaker with each attempt she made.

The room lapsed into a tense silence as Itachi watched the Hokage share a concerned look with her assistant.

Itachi reached over and pushed the damp hair from off of his wife's face, "don't give up," he pleaded with her and couldn't keep the anxiety out of his voice. It was taking too long.

Hinata motioned for him to come closer and whispered something to him that only he could hear.

Itachi's eyes opened wide when her words began to sink in as he realized she had told him about one of the dreams of the future she had been having over the last few months. He had been bugging her for months to share the dream with him, but she had refused and had kept telling him she was saving it for just the right moment.

She had seen in the future their son was going to be named Hokage after Naruto!

Her sense of timing couldn't have been more perfect because where there had been fear; hope now began to replace it. He knew she had been saving the dream to give him hope in case things got difficult during the delivery.

"You know me too well," he whispered to her and kissed the side of her face as his hand rubbed her stomach.

A soft and beautiful smile touched her lips as she looked at him with knowing eyes, "I do, so stop worrying, we will get through this."

"Alright Hinata – we are almost there," The Hokage told her as she began to see the baby's head crown.

Hinata shared a look of determined relief with her husband as she began to prepare herself for the next set of contractions.

* * *

A scream ripped out of her as she finally pushed the baby out and felt like shouting in joy that her ordeal was finally over. Her eyes drifted over to her husband's wonder-filled face and felt like it had all been worth it.

Tsunade and Shizune worked quickly to clean up the baby and soon the sounds of powerful little lungs filled the room.

"He is so beautiful, Hinata," the Hokage gushed to the young mother as she placed the baby in her arms.

Hinata's eyes filled with tears as she looked down at the little face of the child she had dreamed about for so long. Over the past six months her and Itachi had spoken endlessly to him through her stomach and now they were finally getting a chance to meet him face to face.

Even all pink and wrinkly there was no doubt who he resembled the most.

With the exception of his dark hair tinged with indigo like hers, he looked exactly like his father. Hinata's eyes drifted from the baby up to her husband and a laugh bubbled up within her when she saw they were staring at one another with almost identical intense expressions on their face.

Her heart felt full as if ready to burst with happiness and love for both of them. Hinata lifted her face up to him to receive Itachi's kiss.

"Do you want to hold him?" She asked when he lifted his mouth off of hers.

Itachi smiled and felt like he had just been given the world, his throat began to constrict so he just nodded and reached out to take his son from her.

_My boy_, he thought with a mixture of humility and pride as he took him into his arms for the first time.

"He looks just like you," Hinata observed emotionally as she lay back against the bed with a shaky but satisfied sigh.

He peered down at his son's face in fascination and looked for some part of him besides his light blue hair and could find absolutely no trace of Hinata within him. She was right; their son was definitely an Uchiha.

He cleared his throat before looking at his wife with his heart in his eyes, "He is perfect, thank you."

"You're welcome," she breathed out and closed her eyes as exhaustion began to overtake her. An unbelievably happy and relieved smile hovered over her lips as she knew her baby was safe and sound and was in good hands. Itachi would take care of him while she rested.

Seeing that Hinata and the baby were doing fine and not wanting to interrupt a private moment between the new family, the Hokage and Shizune slipped out the door and told everyone in the waiting room the good news.

After months of speculation about the baby, the townspeople and ninjas were dying to hear about him and news of his birth began to spread through Konoha like wildfire. There were several betting pools around the town as people couldn't help but wonder which family trait would dominate the other.

It was still too soon to know but most people felt the Sharingan would ultimately dominate the Byakugan. Still some people believed it was possible for the child to be born with both abilities.

The Hokage was one of them and she had bet a lot of money in different pools around town anonymously in the hope that she was right.

* * *

A few hours later, the Hokage hid a secretive smile as she led the baby's grandfather in to see him.

Hiashi Hyuuga took one look at his grandson and felt awed by his bright glowing chakra. He just knew his grandson was going to take the ninja world by storm one day. He was obviously the very pinnacle of what two very powerful bloodlines could produce if blended together.

His eyes drifted up to his daughter and felt immense pride in her along with a healthy dose of remorse because of all of the mistakes he had made with her over the years. He had been wrong about her all along, she wasn't weak.

Hinata was very strong - as her actions against Pain had already proved.

Hiashi's voice was gruff as he looked into his eldest daughter's eyes and told her in a solemn voice filled with pride, "I am proud of you. I misjudged you." He turned toward Itachi who was watching him with wary eyes, "I misjudged both of you."

Itachi nodded slightly in respect as he knew that was about as close to an apology as he was going to get from his haughty father-in-law.

Itachi glanced over at his wife and could tell she had forgiven her father and knew he had to as well. Still, he wasn't as trusting as his wife was and decided he was going to have a little talk with him and warn him if he ever tried to place a caged bird seal on his son's forehead or anything of that nature that his wrath would be deadly indeed.

"Father, would you like to hold him," Hinata offered her father showing him she accepted his apology. "We named him Shisui after Itachi's cousin."

Itachi's face softened a bit when he saw the expression on Hiashi's face, it was obvious that his father-in-law was quickly becoming entranced with his little grandson.

Hiashi held the baby for several moments and watched as he slept in his arms. He could feel the baby's chakra and felt there was a brightness to it that reminded him of Hinata. When she was a baby her chakra was bright like sunlight and that was why he and his wife had named her Hinata.

His grandson might look exactly like the Uchiha but he had a feeling he would have some of Hinata in him as well. There was only one way to find out if the child had inherited the Hyuuga Clan's kekkei genkei.

"May I?" Hiashi asked the baby's parents if he could examine him with his Byakugan.

Hinata looked at Itachi and saw it was alright with him and nodded her permission to her father.

The Hokage's eyes grew wide as she watched Hiashi examine his grandson and felt exultant when she saw a small relieved smile cross over his face.

"The child has inherited both bloodline limits," Hiashi proclaimed and shot the Hokage a haughty look when she whooped in joy and ran out of the room to go collect on all of her bets.

Soon Hanabi, Neji and Tenten entered the room followed by Sasuke and Masa. Masa endured gentle teasing because in six months it would be her turn to deliver a new little Uchiha.

Each family member wanted a turn holding the new baby but Hiashi refused to relinquish the child which caused the boy's parents a great deal of amusement. Especially when Hanabi looked ready to pitch a fit.

"I have been waiting months to meet my little nephew," she whined and looked at Hinata to back her up.

Little Shisui settled the dispute by releasing a hungry wail telling everyone it was time for them to go so he could have his supper in private. His grandfather had no choice but to give him back to his mother.

"The kid's got some strong lungs," Sasuke teased his brother with an impressed look on his face just before he and his wife were about to leave the room. "He is definitely an Uchiha."

"Hai," Itachi responded with a proud smile before shooting his brother a knowing look. "He reminds me of you when you were a baby."

"Whatever," Sasuke grumbled a little embarrassed and hastily exited the room when he heard some of the others begin to laugh good-naturedly.

"I will come see you guys tomorrow," Hanabi promised after she had leaned over and kissed the crying baby on his head.

The baby began to get really fussy and soon everyone had no choice but to leave. After the door closed behind their family members the young mom and dad gave a sigh of relief.

"I thought they would never leave," Hinata told her husband with a grin as she quickly began to lift her hospital gown so she could begin feeding the baby. This was her first time breastfeeding and she really didn't want an audience.

As expected, Shisui was a quick learner and soon was drinking his mother's milk like a pro. Hinata and Itachi shared a doting look on their new son.

After the baby was done feeding, Hinata fell back asleep and Itachi took the baby from her and very efficiently burped and changed him.

He was holding the baby in the rocking chair when the baby's nurse came in to check on them.

Itachi was surprised to see it was Nel, the nurse who had taken care of him when he first came back to Konoha. She had practically all but begged the Hokage to be allowed to care for the new baby. The Hokage gladly gave her the highly coveted assignment.

Her eyes softened as she remembered back to how different the young man was when he first came back to Konoha. He had been a criminal and on the verge of death, now he was one of the most important ninjas in Konoha and an advisor to the Hokage. Not only that, he was married to Hinata and now had a beautiful little baby as well.

Nel was glad to have played a small role in bringing the two of them together - the young couple had a marriage that most people could only dream about.

"You've come a long way since you came back, haven't you?" Nel remarked softly so she wouldn't wake up the baby. Her eyes were fond as she smiled at the new father with his son.

Itachi's eyes grew solemn as he humbly looked over at his wife and his son in his arms and knew that he would always be eternally grateful that fate had given him a second chance in life.

"Yes Nel, I believe I have."

* * *

**Author's Note:** I decided to make this the last chapter and will end it with an epilogue sometime in the future. This story gets a huge number of hits each month and even though it needs a great deal of editing and cleaning up it has always been one of my favorite stories to write. I would love to hear from some of you lurkers, even if your English isn't the best. Thanks so much for all of your support! I will post the epilogue ASAP.

**Naruto Manga Spoiler Alert (Chapter 519): **The scene in the beginning was so good, I loved how Sasori changed and offered the Mom and Pop puppets to Kankuro to use before he disappeared. Also, they showed Itachi with Kabuto and I can't wait to see how he ends up disobeying Kabuto, I hope he kicks his ass or something for trying to control his soul. Madara finally noticed how Kabuto had drawn Anko and some of the others to him and realized Kabuto was not to be trusted. Hmm, interesting. The rest of it was just Killer Bee and the Eight Tails trying to train Naruto, yawn. I wish Naruto's character didn't annoy me so much with how stupid he is but I just can't help it. Kishimoto keeps using Naruto for comic relief and it is making it harder and harder for me to see him ending up as Hokage one day. It is like his personality is smart, then dumb, smart then dumb again. Arghhh…

**Naruto Shippuden anime episode 189 "Sasuke's Paw Encyclopedia." **(Spoiler Alert) I just watched it and I loved it. Granny Cat and all of the flashbacks of Sasuke and Itachi when they were little, Sasuke and Team 7 reunited, I adored this flashback so much!

**Edited:** 4/26/13 Epilogue should be posted very soon!


	30. Chapter 30

**Dreams That Became Reality**

**Epilogue**

**[Time-skip: Approximately 5 years in the future…June 9th]**

**Author's Note: **Scene contains heavy references to Naruto Shippuden episode 189 Sasuke's Paw Encyclopedia. I know it was a filler, but I really loved that episode so without further ado here is the last chapter…

* * *

"Daddy, what is this place?" Shisui asked his father when they came to the dilapidated old gate and stared at the abandoned looking old town.

"It is the town of Soruku," his uncle answered before the boy's father could.

Shisui stared at the place for a moment with a thoughtful expression on his young face before turning his attention back to his father and uncle and deducted in a logical manner as he tried to contain his excitement.

"This is where Granny-cat used to live."

Itachi and Sasuke shared a proud look before his fond uncle ruffled his hair and his father gave him a nod of approval.

"Yes son, you are right."

A small grin lit the little boy's face as he pulled out the worn-out book that contained a vast amount of cat paw prints of various sizes his father and uncle had captured long ago. What had once been a game in their youth to occupy young Sasuke's time while Itachi bought weapons to take back to the clan, had turned into almost an obsession by his nephew to continue the Uchiha tradition.

It all started when Granny-cat retired in a small cat-filled house on the outskirts of Konoha about a year ago and began telling him stories about his father and uncle and showed him the book. Since then, Shisui was hooked and talked of little else, and he soon became the bane of local house-cats and quick and nimble cats all over the town as he began to capture them and collect their paw prints.

It wasn't long before he required greater challenges than the town of Konoha offered and that was when Granny-cat solved the problem by asking Itachi and Sasuke to go to Soroku and check to see if there were any stored caches of weapons still hidden there. She was concerned she might have forgotten some of them during her move here.

After hearing the request, Sasuke and Itachi were a bit skeptical and thought the possibility of her missing a large cache of weapons was slim to none. More likely, it was just a pretext on her part to bring little Shisui there to see the old place, but even so, they still jumped at the chance to take him to see one of the few places from their childhood that had happier memories for them both.

"This place is even more of a dump than the last time I came here," Sasuke remarked derisively as his eyes took in the crumbling buildings with broken windows and glass on the ground. The signs of decay and chipped paint and rotting wood was everywhere. The place looked like the old run-down ghost town that it was.

Agreeing with his brother, Itachi leaned down to his overly-curious son who was going to be starting the academy soon and cautioned him to, "be more careful and try not to touch everything."

"Alright, I won't," his son promised and then not five minutes later, he did the same thing over again. His little brain was just so inquisitive he just had to touch everything.

Itachi shared a long-suffering look with his brother before Sasuke scooped the youngster up and settled him on his shoulders.

"Come on, we need to finish this task and return home," Itachi said as he had promised his wife he would be home by dinner time at the latest. Taking the lead he began to descend down the stairs that would take them to the dark tunnels below where Uchiha munitions used to be stored.

* * *

A few hours later, Sasuke and Itachi finished searching around the filthy, almost sewer-like storage areas and could find no signs of weapons or munitions anywhere. It was beginning to look like Granny-cat did indeed send them on a wild goose chase just to get them down here. One thing they did find though was the town had become a sanctuary of sorts for stray cats, and not the ninja ones - they had all left when she did. The ones that remained were mangy, malnourished, and barely surviving by eating rodents and whatever else they could scavenge around the town.

As Itachi closed the wooden cabinet he had just searched and slid it against the wall with his foot; he decided to talk to Granny-cat when they returned to Konoha to see what could be done to help them. He was just taking one last look around the room, and preparing to leave altogether, when Sasuke came through the door and asked, "Have you seen Shisui lately?"

"I talked to him about fifteen minutes ago, he was playing with some kittens in the room next door," his father said as he immediately began to head towards the other room.

Both of their faces fell when they saw the room was empty. Trying not to get too alarmed they began to call out his name and search the area. They both knew it was not unusual for Shisui to become curious and go explore on his own. With the help of his Hyuuga grandfather he had become skilled in using his Byakugan over the last year, so he rarely ever got lost.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, after deploying a multitude of snakes and crows to help with the search and there still was no sign of him, the two brothers were becoming increasingly alarmed. In the back of their mind, the threat of kidnapping was always there, because of Shisui's two kekkei genkei, the other villages and criminals would love to get ahold of his powerful eyes.

As Sasuke watched Itachi form quick and anxious hand-signs to create a few more clones of himself, he wished Neji was here to search for him, he would have found the boy in no time at all with his Byakugan. Unfortunately he wasn't, and they would have to search the endless maze of tunnels on their own.

His eyes were grim as he copied his brother and made a few clones of his own and gave them instructions to start searching the sewers and drainage piped below them.

* * *

Putting the finishing touches on the massive birthday cake she had made for him, Hinata was well satisfied with the results and the plans for the party were working out even better then she could ever imagine. Giving herself a small reward, she stuck her finger in the bowl of chocolate frosting and took a taste and found it was absolutely perfect in texture and taste.

Lifting her face toward the sunny sky, she couldn't help but smile as a soft and gentle wind blew over her face a good omen to her that even the weather was cooperating today.

She was also thankful Granny-cat found a great excuse to get the brothers to leave town and take Shisui with them. That allowed her and the others the opportunity to take care of everything in the open, because it was practically impossible to keep secrets from any of them.

Today was Itachi's 27th birthday and she was going to throw him a huge surprise party, and she hoped this year's plans didn't fail like they had every other time she tried to do it. Something urgent always came up, or one of them had to go on a mission suddenly. Well this year she wanted to do something extra special for him, and a happy smile crossed her face as she still couldn't believe what was happening.

She had intended for the party to just be for their extended family and some close friends (such as the rookie nine). But as word began to spread about the event, it soon ended up the almost half of the village was coming to celebrate with them.

As her eyes scanned eagerly around the lawn area in front of the three houses by the river she was glad it was expansive and would be able to accommodate everyone fairly easily.

Near the main house, Old man Teuchi was in the process of preparing vast quantities of Ramen to serve to serve to everyone at the party today for free as his gift, along with a few other food venders who were doing the same.

After the last Shinobi War and other battles, Konoha was experiencing a time of wonderful prosperity and Itachi was a large part of it. A few years ago he had been placed on the economic council by the Hokage and under his calmly efficient leadership businesses began to thrive and a lot of them were grateful to him.

She sent the old man a smile and a wave after she made eye contact with him. He waved back at her before getting back to setting up his stand.

A choked laugh escaped her when out of her peripheral vision she saw Konohamaru pull her seventeen year old sister, Hanabi, behind a tree and start kissing her passionately. The two had started going out a few months ago and she thought they made a really cute couple, even if her sister did tend to boss him around a bit.

Not everyone felt that way though, and it was apparent when Neji swooped down out of nowhere like an avenging guardian angel and broke them up.

"Poor girl," Tenten said as she came up beside Hinata and was watching her husband lecture the young couple on proper behavior in public. "With Neji, Itachi and Sasuke watching over her, it is amazing anyone had the courage to even ask her out on a date."

Hinata shrugged her shoulders, "Well you know how Hanabi is… once she makes up her mind about something… it is pretty difficult to stop her."

Tenten had gotten to know Hinata's stubborn younger sister pretty well over the last few years could definitely agree with her. She rolled her eyes after she saw Hanabi attack Neji and the two of them start sparring with each other just for fun.

"Come on, Hinata," she said as she started dragging her friend along. "Let's go break them up before something gets broken."

"Okay," she said as she followed her and she could tell by the sun in the sky it was growing late and the party would be starting soon. There was still a lot of setting up to do and she needed all of their help. Looking off in the distance she hoped Itachi and the others would be home on time.

* * *

"Well," Itachi said to his brother in a voice nearly drained of all emotion when he met him one of the twisted hallways. Sasuke's face was bleak as he shook his head no.

Their famous Uchiha eyes were fearful and nearly desperate as they stared at one another and tried to figure out where to search next.

Itachi's heart had lodged itself into his stomach over an hour ago and a gnawing feeling of dread was beginning to envelope him, making it hard for him not to panic. This was the first time since becoming a father he was experiencing every parent's worst nightmare.

_Shisui where are you?_

* * *

The lawns surrounding the houses were filled with laughter and happy people as the celebration had started on time, without the guest of honor.

_Where are they_? Hinata thought with a frown as she used her Byakugan to search down the long road that led to their homes along the river. They should have been home over an hour ago.

For the next half hour she kept herself busy by talking to guests and making sure the enormous buffet of food they had out was continually replenished. Sasuke's wife, Masa, was huge help in making everyone feel welcome and being another set of hands for her.

Tenten and Neji were involved in an epic juggling contest down by the river and they were surrounded by awed children and admiring townspeople who were dying to try it out themselves. Soon, their team-mate, Lee, joined in and the competition became even more fierce.

Something dark caught her eye and Hinata saw a solitary crow fly over them and land on one of the chairs, it looked at her for a minute before a noise startled it and it flew away.

Her eyes were pensive and a little worried as she stared at the area where it had landed. The crow reminded her of Itachi and for some reason she was starting to feel a little uneasy…like something was wrong.

"What's the matter, Hinata," Kurenai asked her as she came upon her.

A small blush dusted her cheeks as she wondered if maybe she was over-reacting a little, after all Shisui was with Itachi and Sasuke, what could possibly go wrong.

"Ah nothing really, I am just a little bit worried that Itachi hasn't shown up yet. He left with Sasuke and Shisui early this morning on a little trip and they haven't returned yet."

"They should be fine, you know how men are…they probably got sidetracked by something on the way home," her old sensei told her with a comforting pat on the arm. "Come on, let's go wait for them over there," she said as she pointed over towards a few comfy lawn chairs by the house.

"You're probably right," Hinata responded with a weak smile and she just wished the strange feeling of dread would go away.

* * *

Two hours later Itachi and Sasuke had split up and were trudging through the dank and smelly sewers, because it was the most logical place for them to search. Due to the height of the tunnels they were in they were forced to keep their heads down, and with every minute they continued to search for Shisui and not find him their minds were beginning to grow more desperate.

A frown grew over Sasuke's face when he saw a rat float by and then another. The rats seemed to be heading in a certain direction so he decided to follow them.

A desperate sort of hope began to unfurl in his chest as he hoped his observation was correct. A short while later he met up with Itachi who seemed to be doing the same thing as their tunnels intersected.

"I am following the rats," Sasuke told him as he continued to trudge through the sludgy waters as fast as he could.

His brother nodded grimly, "I am too, but just in case I am wrong, I have my crows searching the upper tunnels."

"Same here," Sasuke said and though they were both thinking it, neither one of them wanted to contemplate why a bunch of mindless rats might be heading towards Shisui and why he wasn't trying to find them or responding to them when they called out to him.

Their search went on in the faint light of the torch as the tunnels seemed to go on forever. Up ahead they finally began to see an opening and they rushed forward in one last desperate surge.

A horrible sight met their eyes when they lifted up the torch. There were thousands of rats down in the large underground cavern where all of the water from the sewers and drainage pipes was collected. The rodents were climbing over everything and swimming in the murky water.

On a dirty and small ledge that was just a couple of feet wide and long was Shisui, he was lying down and his eyes were closed as if he was sleeping or unconscious and surrounding him as though they were protecting him were several mangy cats. On his stomach was a cute little white kitten that was also not moving.

"Shisui," Itachi yelled out to his son and was dismayed when he didn't respond. Without even a small worry about the rats he jumped onto the water and began running across it until he almost reached his son.

As if they could sense this man would not harm the boy, the stray cats moved aside and let him through.

Though Itachi was grateful the cats had protected his son, he didn't thank them, because his anxious mind only had one objective as he gathered his precious son up in his arms and hugged him closely to him.

Running his hand over his son's forehead he found the boy did not have a fever or any injuries, but behind his head he found a rather large bump. Lifting his eyes upward he saw an opening to a tunnel up above him and he determined Shisui had probably fallen and hit his head on the ledge below him.

As Sasuke watched his brother with Shisui he was filled with a relief so poignant it was almost painful. He couldn't have imagined how Itachi and Hinata would have handled it if something had happened to their son.

He looked in front of him and saw his torch was beginning to go out. It was growing late and Shisui needed to be looked over by a medic, he immediately began to search for a way out.

A rather large shadow fell over them and a voice spoke out, "Over here, I will show you the way out."

"Nekomata," Itachi and Sasuke both said at once as they remembered the giant feline from long ago. They could hear the rats begin advancing on the area they were in so after gathering up his son and handing the kitty he had been holding to Sasuke they jumped up to the area directly above them.

Once they did that Nekomata jumped down to the cavern they had just vacated and all of the cats jumped onto his back for safety.

"You are safe now, my friends, none of you will ever go hungry again," he promised the brave cats as he jumped up and joined the humans up in the tunnels above them.

* * *

Once they were all back in the fresh air and outside the town, Nekomata took the little white kitten from Sasuke and thanked them. His giant cat eyes were solemn as he looked at the sleeping boy in Itachi's arms.

"I owe your son a debt, Itachi. He saved my grandson's life."

Itachi nodded with equal solemnity, "I am just glad they are both safe."

They all knew if they had been much later, those rats would have converged upon them and no amount of cat protection would have been enough.

A grim shiver went through the boy's uncle and father at the thought.

Nekomata pulled out a large scroll and cut his paw and put his bloody print on it and looked up at Itachi, "This is a summoning contract, I bind myself along with my descendants to it. If your son should ever need our assistance, we will be there for him."

Itachi and Sasuke looked at the contract with surprise as no Uchiha in history has ever been allowed to enter such a contract with Nekomata, though many have desired it.

"I know my son will be honored, Nekomata," Itachi said as he took the scroll from him so Shisui could sign it later. The two brothers watched as the large cat left along with a large amount of the stray cats.

Speaking of summons, it occurred to Sasuke that he could use his to get them home and he immediately cut his hand and summoned his hawk along with another one to fly them home.

* * *

It was late, but no one at the party wanted to go home. They were still waiting for the guest of honor to show up. A few people such as family members were worried about them, but most of the townspeople were not, after all they were talking about Sasuke and Itachi Uchiha.

About an hour ago, Hinata had given up all pretense of not worrying and was watching the road near them constantly. Masa was with her, along with Tenten and Neji.

"There they are," her cousin told her as he pointed to the sky and saw the giant hawks.

Hinata's initial elation soon turned to alarm when she saw her unconscious son in her husband's arms and the fact that they had used hawks to fly them home was troubling as well.

Without another thought she ran toward them and the others followed too. Tsunade was there and on her third drink but she was alert to know the boy needed her help, she also rushed to his side.

Just before they got to them, the whole group of them almost stopped as they were hit by a massive wall of stench.

"What have you been doing, swimming in a sewer?" The Hokage asked them as she held her nose and squelched down the nausea.

Sasuke rolled his eyes as that was a fairly accurate account of what they had been doing.

Hinata didn't care as she pressed in closer to them, she just wanted to see her boy, "Itachi is he alright?"

"Yes, he just fell and hit his head," he said as he showed the injury to the Hokage so she could examine him. His eyes looked over at his wife's face and he decided it would be best if he didn't tell her how their son was almost eaten by rats.

Running diagnostic chakra over him and then working on the bump on his head, the Hokage quickly determined he did not sustain a concussion and he should be fine tomorrow after a bath and some rest.

Everyone, especially his parents, breathed a sigh of relief.

Soon, because of the situation, everyone began to leave and several people promised to come by tomorrow to help clean everything up.

Before he entered the house, Itachi's tired eyes scanned over the area and they softened when they rested on his wife. It looked like she went to a lot of trouble to celebrate his birthday this year.

* * *

Later, after everyone had taken a bath and Shisui was sleeping comfortably in his bed, Hinata pulled out the huge plate of food she had put away for him earlier in the evening along with a large piece of chocolate cake.

In the middle of it she had a candle lit. "Happy birthday, Itachi," she said as she put it down in front of him and watched as he blew out the candle.

"Thank you, Hinata." His eyes were apologetic as he looked at her, knowing he had missed another birthday celebration.

His wife put a gentle hand on his shoulder and breathed out softly. "I am just glad you are both safe."

Itachi agreed with her as he closed his eyes painfully. Today had been hell and he hoped he never would have to go through something like that again.

After he explained to her everything, except for the part about the rats, they got ready for bed.

As Hinata watched her exhausted husband fall asleep, her hand tenderly moved his long hair away from his face. She was going to tell him tonight the good news that she was pregnant with twins, but she decided to wait. After what had happened today, maybe tomorrow would be a better time to give him the news.

FIN

**Author's Note:** I am finally done with this very long story. I started writing it in 2009, so I am glad it is finally finished. I recently went through chapter by chapter and rewrote some of it and cleaned up other areas. It is still far from perfect, but it is much better than it used to be. Thank you so much to all of you who left me comments on this story over the years, I really appreciate all of them. Big hugs to all of you!

**Update:** Wow, thanks! I have gotten almost 10,000 hits on this story this month. (5/28/13)


End file.
